Gass__ 

Book ___ 



OUTLINES 



OF 



(lish and American Literature 



PROF. JfH, GILMORE, Ph. D. 

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER 



author of 

'The English Language and its Early Literature, 
"The Chautauqua Textbook of English 
Literature," Etc., Etc. 



Rochester, N. Y. 

SCRANTOM, WETMORE & Co 



Copyright, 1905 
J. H. Gtlmore 



JOHN P. SMITH PRINTING COMPANY, ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



PREFACE. 



Before taking up the study of the masterpieces of Eng- 
lish Literature, the student- should have some knowledge 
of the history of that literature. This little manual is 
intended as a guide to the acquisition of that knowledge. 
In compiling it the author has endeavored to trace the 
organic development of the literature that has found ex- 
pression in our mother tongue, emphasize its salient features 
and most prominent authors, and refer the student to 
such sources of information as are likely to aid one in 
giving to the skeleton here presented substance and vitality. 

Of the names included in such a thesaurus as Chambers's 
"Cyclopaedia of English Literature/ 7 the author has 
recognized only those concerning which a student whose 
vernacular -is English should be ashamed to be ignorant. 
The authorities to which reference is made are, also, com- 
paratively few^; but such as the author considers especially 
trustworthy and helpful. 

The very meagreness of the book has given it, as pri- 
vately printed, considerable currency both for class-room 
use and as a book of reference. In the hope that it may 
prove more generally useful, it has been carefully revised, 
and is now given to the public. 

It has been the author's custom to make these outlines 
the basis of class-room talks, somewhat after the Univer- 
sity Extension method. It is believed, however, that 
they will be found useful where preference is given to the 
laboratory method of literary study. 

University of Rochester. 
April, 1905. 



I. THE ORIGIN AND AFFINITIES OF THE 
ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



Why we should study English literary history. Because 
it is of interest to know who our ancestors were, what they 
thought, and how they expressed their thoughts. Be- 
cause familiarity with such books as have survived the 
winnowing processes of time tends to enrich the mind. 
Because there is such continuity in national life that we 
cannot fully appreciate the English literature and the 
English language of today, without studying them in 
their germinal forms, and tracing their progressive de- 
velopment. Illustrate by Shakspere's indebtedness to 
the pre-Shaksperean drama; or Tennyson's indebtedness 
to those who have handled the Arthurian legends before 
him. 

See the author's " English Language and its Early Literature/' 
pp. 3-5; Henry Reed's " Lectures on English Literature," p. 58; 
Thomson's "Laws of Thought," § 21. 

It is necessary, first of all, without going into the nice- 
ties of modern philological investigation, to place our 
mother-tongue in a general way. Three great ethnic and 
linguistic families must be recognized — the Semitic, the 
Indo-European, and the Allophylian (or Turanian.) The 
third of these is a mere aggregation of such races and 
languages as are neither Semitic nor Indo-European. 

For a scientific classification of the languages formerly grouped 
as Allophylian, see Morris's " Outlines of English Accidence." 

Within the Indo-European family of languages, and also 
within the Semitic family, we note : — 

1. Similarity of roots. E. G. Sanscrit, matri; Latin, 
mater; English, mother. Contrast the Hebrew, Eym; 
Arabic, umm. 

2. Similarity of inflections. E. G. Sanscrit, bhrataras; 

5 



Latin, fratres; English, brothers. Contrast the Hebrew 
plural in im, e. g. cherubim. 
3. Similarity of construction. 

The Semitic Family of languages (name derived from 
Shem, or Sem, Gen. 9:18, 19), is typified by the Hebrew. 
It is characterized by a triliteral system of roots, and by 
great simplicity of construction. It affects English slightly, 
through travel, commerce, and especially through the 
Hebrew Scriptures, E. G. amen, jubilee, alkali, alchemy, 
bazaar, cotton. 

The Allophylian (or, Turanian), affects English even 
less; but to an appreciable extent. See Morris's " Out- 
lines of English Accidence," p. 32 sq. Squaw, wigwam, 
tobacco are familiar Allophylian words. 

Despite its borrowings from Semitic and Allophylian 
sources, the English language is distinctively Indo-Euro- 
pean. The similarity of roots and inflections, already 
noted, is largely due to the fact that the Indo-European 
languages are descended from a common parent-language, 
known as the Aryan. 

It was formerly thought that the primitive abode of the 
Indo-European (or Aryan) race was on the head-waters 
of the Indus; and that, in prehistoric times, successive 
waves of migration planted descendants of this ancient 
race and language in different parts of Europe (see Emer- 
son's "Brief History of the English Language," p. 2); 
though many of them remained in their Asian home. It 
is now claimed that the original abode of the Indo-Euro- 
pean peoples was in Europe — possibly in the Scandinavian^ 
peninsula. See Sweet's "History of Language," pp. 103, 
117, 138. 

On the characteristics of the Aryan race and language, see Morris's 
"Outlines of English Accidence," pp. 9-11. Cf. Max M tiller's 
" Biographies of Words, and Home of the Aryans." 

7 



The following Classification of the Indo-European Lan- 
guages is sufficiently minute for our present purpose. The 
abode of the different members of this linguistic family 
should be indicated on a wall map. 



Asiatic f 

I 



1. Ixdic — Sanscrit of the Vedas, Pali, Bengali. 
II. Iranic — Zend-Avesta, Old Persian. 



f 



European 



1. Brythonic 



III. Keltic \ 



2. Gadhelic 



IV 

V. 



I 



f (1.) 

{ (2.) 
1(3.) 
f(l.) 
i (2.) 
(3.) 



Kymric (Welsh) 

Cornish. 

Bas-Breton. 

Erse. 

Gaelic. 

Manx. 



Hellenic — Various dialects of Greece. 
Italic — Latin, etc., "Romance languages. ' 



f (1.) Maeso-Gothic. 
(2.) Low German or 
1. Germanic { Saxon. 

(3.) Frisic. 

VI. Teutonic <j 1(4.) High German. 

f (1.) Icelandic. 
\ (2.) Swedish. 
2. Scandinavian j (3.) Danish in- 
[ eluding Xorse. 

VII. Lithuanic — Courland, Livonia, Esthonia. 

VIII. Sclavonic — Russia, Danubian principalities. 

The question which now confronts us is : To which branch 
of the Indo-European family does the English language 
belong? 

Before attempting to answer that question, it would be well, with 
the aid of a wall-map, to give the class some conception of the phy- 
sical geography of Britain — its mountain and river systems, the 
influence of the gulf stream on its climate, etc. 

See Huxley's " Physiography," "The Land we live in," Vol. 1., 
" Geography of British History." 

The following facts will give an American student some idea of 
the comparative size of the British Islands. 

Great Britain (including England, Scotland and Wales) extends 
608 miles from North to South, or about as far as from Boston to 
Cleveland. Its greatest breadth is 325 miles; but it is so indented 
by the sea that no place in it is more than 75 miles from the shore. 

Great Britain contains 83,355 square miles. Minnesota con- 
tains 83,365. New York and the New England States, exclusive 
of Maine, contain 82,595. Ireland contains 32,531 square miles; 
and Maine 33,040. So the British Islands are just about the size 
of New York and New England combined. 



9 



Keltic Britain. At the dawn of authentic history, some 
form of the Keltic language — belonging to the Indo-Euro- 
pean family — was spoken throughout Britain. 

The Roman Conquest. The Romans conquered southern 
Britain 43-84 A. D. (see the "Agricola" of Tacitus), and 
held it until 412; but did not supplant the Keltic inhabi- 
tants, and made little permanent impression on the lan- 
guage. The few Latin words, or terminations, which 
survived the departure of the Romans (e. g. -coin, -caster 
or -Chester strata), are known as "The Latin of the First 
Period." 

Saxon Britain. The Low Germans, or Saxons, began 
to settle in Britain in 449; and Saxon dialects gradually 
supplanted the Keltic. There are no Keltic constructions 
in modern English; and comparatively few Keltic words 
were incorporated with the Saxon speech at this time, 
though Keltic names of places (e. g. Avon, Ben-Lomond, 
Anglesea) still lingered. 

The language which supplanted the Keltic was made up 
of several Low German dialects, as nearly akin to each 
other as those of the "six nations" of American Indians. 
It is a mistake to regard the Saxon settlement of Britain 
as made by only three tribes (the Angles, Saxons and 
Jutes) ; or to give excessive prominence to the Angles. 
See Latham's "Ethnology of the British Islands." The 
Frisians undoubtedly played a prominent part in this 
settlement. See Barnes's "Early England and the Saxon 
English." 

The period of Saxon settlement extended from 449 to 
585, during which the kingdoms of Kent, Sussex, Wessex, 
Essex, East Anglia, Northumberland and Mercia were 
established. See the author's "English Language and 
its Early Literature," p. 33 sq. Then followed a struggle 

11 



for supremacy, especially between Mercia and Wessex, 
which terminated in 827, when Egbert, King of Wessex, 
became king of all England. 

From the blending of the low German dialects thus 
planted on the soil of Britain, was developed the Angln- 
Saxon (or, Old English) language, which was the basis of 
our modern English. From it we derive: 

1. Nearly all our inflectional forms — the Anglo-Saxon 
being, like the Latin, an inflectional language. 

2. Most of our constructions, and especially our common 
idioms. 

3. A very large part — and that the strongest, tenclerest 
and most effective — of our vocabulary. See "The Edin- 
burgh Review" for April, 1859. 

In 596, the monk Augustine landed in Kent and the 
Christianization of Britain speedily followed. This intro- 
duced the Latin language, laid the foundation of a Latin 
literature, and brought Britain within the refining in- 
fluences of continental culture. The Latin words intro- 
duced at this time, relating mainly to the church and its 
observances, or the products of southern Europe (e. g, 
bishop, minster, butter, cheese, pepper, cherry), consti- 
tute the "Latin of the Second Period." 

Danish Britain. In 787, the Danes began to make pirat- 
ical incursions into Britain; and in 1016 Knut the Dane 
was crowned King of England. The Danish conquest did 
not materially affect the Amglo-Saxon language; for the 
conquerors adopted the language of the conquered, though 
with some disintegration of the inflectional system and 
some modification of its vocabulary especially in the north 
of England. (e. g. Earl, are, till, hustings, and especially 
the suffix and prefix -by, as in Rugby, Netherby, by-laics). 

Anglo-Norman Britain. In 1066, the Norman-French 
conquered Britain and introduced a new language, whose 

13 



basis was the Low Latin spoken by the soldiers of Caesar 
when they over-ran Gaul. For some time three languages 
co-existed in Britain — the Latin, which was the language 
of the church; the Norman-French, which was spoken by 
the Norman barons and their adherents; the Anglo-Saxon, 
the language of the common people. There was a gradual 
amalgamation of Anglo-Saxon and Norman French, however, 
which tended: 

1. To make our English syntax positional rather than 
inflectional. 

2. Slightly to modify constructions previously em- 
ployed. 

3. To enlarge and enrich our vocabulary by: 

(1) Supplying abstract terms. 

(2) Facilitating the composition and derivation of 
words. 

(3) Furnishing synonymous expressions. 

(4) Giving dignity and grace to the homely Anglo- 
Saxon. 

The words which came into English from the Latin 
through the French (e. g. feat, fashion, frail, benison, orison) 
constitute the "Latin of the Third Period. " See Morris's 
" Outlines of English Accidence/' p. 32. 

The Norman conquest was needed to vitalize the Anglo- 
Saxon race. Henry Morley says: "But for early, frequent 
and various contact with the Keltic race, Germanic Eng- 
land would never have produced a Shakspere." Cf. C. F. 
Johnson's "History of English and American Literature/' 
p. 18. The language, equally with the race, needed a 
transfusion of vitality; and, as the result of it, our modern 
English has an ancestry unparallelled in linguistic history, 
and inherits the wealth of both the Latin and the Teutonic 
race. 



15 



Hadley and Kittredge's "Brief History of the English Language" 
(in Webster's "International Dictionary") will afford all the help 
that is absolutely necessary to expand and vivify the outline given 
above. 

Morris's "Outlines of English Accidence," Nicholas's "Pedigree 
of the English People," Marsh's "Origin and History of the English 
Language," and Green's "Making of England" ought, however, 
to be in every school library. Lewis's "Beginnings of English 
Literature" (an admirable text-book) covers the topic under dis- 
cussion. Other books that may be profitably consulted are Louns- 
bury's, Emerson's, or Toller's "History of the English Language;" 
Clark's "Student's Handbook of Comparative Grammar;" La- 
tham's "Ethnology of the British Islands;" Brachet's "Historical 
Grammar of the French Tongue;" Rhys's "Celtic Britain;" Oli- 
phant's "Old and Middle English;" Freeman's "Old English 
History " and "Short History of the Norman Conquest;" Pearson's 
"England during the Early and Middle Ages;" McClear's "Conver- 
sion of the English;" Newell' s "Ancient British Church;" Bulwer's 
"Harold;" Kingsley's "Hereward the Wake;" Scott's "Ivanhoe;" 
Church's "Story of Early Britain;" "The Count of the Saxon 
Shore." 



17 



He THE EARLY LITERATURES OF BRITAIN. 



There is a progressive development of the literary spirit 
in Britain from a comparatively early period. Every 
student of English literature should note the stages in that 
development, and have some knowledge of the principal 
authors or works belonging to each period. We recognize: 

I. Keltic Literature (especially of Wales), which 
existed in the 5th and 6th centuries. Under this head we 
should notice : 

The Triads — a series of unrhymecl triplets associating 
together three persons, three events, or three moral pre- 
cepts. See "The Literature of the Kymry." 

The Bards — Aneurin, Taliesin, Merlin and Llywarch 
Hen — whose poetry is weird, gloomy, Byronic; but not 
deficient in tenderness and pathos. See Matthew Arnold's 
" Celtic Literature/' 

The Mabinogion — a collection of prose tales translated 
by Lady Charlotte Guest. See Bulfinch's "Age of Chiv- 
alry and Legends of King Arthur;" Lanier's "Boy's Ma- 
binogion;" the Temple edition of "The Mabinogion." 

The favorite theme of Welsh annalist and poet was 
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table — a 
theme which has proved attractive to mediaeval and mod- 
ern authors in many lands. See Rhys' s "Studies in the 
Arthurian Legend." 

II. Latin Literature, from 596 to the time of Milton. 
The most important names in early times are: 

The Venerable Bede — (d. 735) , a devout and studious monk, 
attached to the monastery of Jarrow, whose "Ecclesias- 
tical History of Britain" is a work of prime significance. 
For a translation, see Bohn's "Universal Library." 



19 



Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1109) whose "Cur 
Deus Homo?" is still read by theologians. See Church's 
"Life of Anselm." 

Walter Map — (d. 1210), who may be regarded as the first 
English litterateur. He satirized, in his "Confessions 
of Golias," the low lives of the clergy; and did much to 
throw the Arthurian romances into the form in which they 
have come down to us. See Wright's "Biographia Lit- 
teraria: Anglo Norman;" Gurteen's "Arthurian Epic." 

Roger Bacon — (d. 1292), who may be regarded as the first 
English physicist. 

III. Anglo Saxon (or Old English) Literature, 650- 
1066. This was somewhat copious ; but, for the most part, 
of slight intrinsic value; and also of slight formative in- 
fluence. Our alliterative tendencies and accentual ver- 
sification may be traced to this source. Principal authors 
or works: 

Ccedmon — who lived in the latter half of the seventh 
century, was attached to the monastery of Whitby, and 
wrote, professedly under divine inspiration, poems de- 
scriptive of the creation, fall and redemption of man. 
See Brother Azarias's "Development of English Litera- 
ture." It is very doubtful whether the poems attributed 
to Csedmon are really his — indeed, some question whether 
there ever was such a man. See Brooke's "English Lit- 
erature from the Beginning to the Norman Conquest," 
pp. 126-151. With the poems attributed to Cseclmon 
compare Milton's "Paradise Lost." 

The Beowulf — a great Low German epic, older than the 
Nlbelungen Lied, full of poetic fire, and valuable for its 
incidental illustrations of life and manners among the 
Scandinavians. It is probable that the "Beowulf" ex- 
isted at first, in Denmark or the Scandinavian peninsula, 

21 



as a cluster of lays by various heathen authors (somewhat 
like the " Iliad' ' of Homer); and that they were woven 
into their present shape in Britain by some Christian poet 
of the seventh century. 

See the translations by Thorpe, Garnett, Hall and Child 
(Riverside Literature Series, No. 159); Earle's " Deeds of 
Beowulf;" Brooke's " Early English Literature/' pp. 12-92; 
Lanier's " Forerunners of Shakspere," Vol. I, p. 42, sq. 

Cynewulf — a West Saxon poet who probably wrote in the 
latter half of the eighth century. He is best known by 
his "Elene," which deals with the discovery of the cross 
by the Empress Helena after it had been revealed in a 
vision to Constantine. See Garnett's edition of this poem. 
On the other works of Cynewulf and his school, see Brooke's 
"English Literature from the Beginning to the Norman 
Conquest," pp. 163-202; Lanier's "Forerunners of Shak- 
pere," Vol. I, pp. 76-113. 

The Saxon Chronicle — a series of annals kept in the 
monasteries of England, which begins with the Christian 
era and comes down to 1070. Probably begun at the 
instance of Alfred. Of slight literary value, but consider- 
able historical significance. See " Blackwood's Maga- 
zine," Vol. 91, p. 629. 

Alfred the Great — (b. 849, d. 901), a brave but only partly 
successful warrior, a wise ruler, a munificent and intelligent 
patron of letters. He translated, or paraphrased, the 
"Pastoral Care" of Pope Gregory; Bede's " Ecclesiastical 
History of Britain;" the mediaeval history of Orosius; and 
Boethius on "The Consolations of Philosophy." 

See Hughes's "Life of Alfred;" Pauli's "Life and Writings of 
Alfred;" Heath's "Age of Alfred;" Brooke's "English Literature 
from the Beginning to the Norman Conquest ," pp. 212-241. 

IV. Semi-Saxon (or Middle English) Literature, 1066- 
1250. This is of no especial literary importance, but of 



23 



great interest to students who are tracing the develop- 
ment of our mother tongue. Its principal works are: 

The Brat of Layamon — a versified chronicle of the early 
history of Britain, founded on the Brut of Wace, who 
wrote in Norman-French. See Corson's ''Handbook of 
Anglo-Saxon and Early English. " 

The Ormulum — a metrical paraphrase of the Scriptures, 
"so nemned forrthi thatt Orrm itt wrohtte." See Corson. 
at sapra. 

V. Early English Literature, 1250-1350. The lit- 
erature of this period is mostly fashioned after Norman- 
French models and is of slight interest and value. The 
principal exceptions are; 

The Owl and the Nightingale — a rhymed pastoral of 1800 
lines, supposed to have been written by Nicholas de Guil- 
ford, and apparently of native origin. 

The Lay of Havelok — an Anglo-Danish romance, far 
superior in interest and importance to the poems that have 
just been named. See the admirable edition of the Early 
English Text Society. 

Robert of Gloucester's Rhymed Chronicle — which traces 
the history of Britain from the siege of Troy to the death 
of Henry III (1272), and the later portions of which may 
fairly aspire to the dignity of history. 

Morris and Skeat's " Specimens of Early English" gives 

extended quotations from the three poems last named. 

Besides the books to which specific reference is made in this 
section, Marsh's "Origin and History of the English Language;" 
Morley's "English Writers;" Ten Brink's "Old English Literature;" 
and "Six Old English Chronicles," in Bonn's Antiquarian Library, 
will be found very useful. 



25 



III. GENERAL SURVEY OF ENGLISH 
LITERATURE. 



We have came to a point where a distinctively English 
literature may be said to begin. Taking a preliminary 
view of that literature which is to engage our more minute 
attention, Ave recognize the following periods, which the 
student should fix in mind exactly and so thoroughly that 
they will be a permanent possession. 

I. The Formative Period. From 1350 to 1476; or 
from the time when Chaucer and his contemporaries made 
the East Midland dialect the literary language of England, 
to the time when William Caxton set up the first English 
printing-press. Literature neither Anglo-Saxon nor Nor- 
man-French, but English ; and indissolubly connected with 
the literature of our own day. Typical authors or works : 

In Prose — Sir John Mandeville, John Wiclif. 
In Poetry — Langland (Piers Plowman), John Gower, 
Geoffrey Chaucer. 

II. The Period of the Renaissance (Taine); or, The 
Period of Italian Influence (Morley). From 1476 to 
1660; or from the introduction of printing to the develop- 
ment of French influence attendant on the restoration of 
the Stuarts. This period may be subdivided into three: 

1. From 1476 to 1558; or, from the introduction of 
printing to the period of political and religious stability 
ushered in by the reign of Elizabeth. This period covers 
the anticipatory movements of a new literary life, gener- 
ated by the Protestant Reformation and the Revival of 
Learning in Europe. Typical authors are: 

Tyndale — Representing the religious renaissance. 
Surrey — Representing the secular renaissance. 

2. From 1558 to 1625 ; or, from the accession of Elizabeth 
to the death of James I. — being the great creative period 
of English literature. Typical authors are: 

27 



In Poetry, Spenser — "The Faery Queene." 

In the Drama, Shakspere — " Julius Caesar/' "As You 
Like It," "Hamlet," "King Henry VIII." 

In Prose, Bacon — "Essays," "Advancement of Learn- 
ing," King James's Version of the Bible. 

3. From 1625 to 1660; or, from the death of James I. 
to the restoration of the Stuarts. The typical authors 
of the period are : 

In Poetry — Milton. 

In Prose — Milton and Bunyan. 

III. The Classic Age (Taine); or, The Period of 
French Influence (Morley). From 1660 to 1789; or 
from the restoration to the French Revolution. Typical 
authors are: 

In Poetry — Dryden and Pope, Goldsmith and Gray. 
In Prose — Addison, Fielding and Johnson 

IV. The Period of Modern Life (Taine); or, The 
Period of English Popular Influence (Morley). From 
1789, — when the English mind was emancipated from the 
fetters of French classicism, — to the present day. Typical 
authors are: 

In Poetry — Scott, Byron and Wordsworth. 
In Prose — Dickens, Macaulay and Tyndall. 

To those who desire to make this preliminary survey more thor- 
ough, the author would recommend Stopford A. Brooke's "English 
Literature." Among other helps to a general view of English 
literature, mention may be made of Morley's "First Sketch of 
English* Literature;" Fiske's abridgement of "Taine's English 
Literature." "English Literature, an Illustrated Record," by 
Garnett and Gosse (Macmillan &Co.), will be found very attractive; 
and Ryland's "Chronological Outlines of English Literature" 
will be invaluable as a book of reference. 

One great hindrance to the profitable study of English literary 
history is, that the average student is wofully ignorant of English 
political, social and economic history. It would pay him richly to 
read, pretty carefully, Green's "Short History of the English 
People." Montgomery's "Leading Facts of English History" is a 
convenient reference manual. 



29 



IV. THE FORMATIVE PERIOD. CONTEMPO- 
RARIES OF CHAUCER. 



The first period recognized in the outline just given was 
a period of national consolidation, and hence a period of 
literary activity. Previously, there had been three princi- 
pal dialects spoken in England; but Chaucer and his con- 
temporaries gave breadth and stability to the East Midland 
Dialect, and made it, for all time, the literary language of 
England. The most prominent among Chaucer's contem- 
poraries were: 

Sir John Mandeville, who long enjoyed the reputation of 
being "the earliest English prose author. " His very 
existence is now questioned. See Stopford Brooke's 
"English Literature-/' p. 71; Craik's "English Prose/' 
Vol. 1, p. 19; "Encyclopaedia Britannica." 

He, or somebody else, has, however, left us a book of 
travels which is an absurd, but delicious, mixture of truth 
and falsehood, and affords striking evidence of the degree 
to which the language of England was being Latinized. 

"The Travels of Sir. John Mandeville" (somewhat mod- 
ernized) may be had in "CasselPs National Library" for 
only ten cents. It is also available in "The Temple Clas- 
sics." 

John Wiclif (b. 1324, d. 1384), professor of Theology at 
Balliol College, Oxford, espoused opinions at variance 
with those of the Catholic church, and gave us our first 
English Bible, translated from the Latin version. Selec- 
tions from Wiclif's Bible, the influence of which was re- 
ligiously very great, are given in Maynard, Merrill and Co's 
"English Classics," No. 107. See Sirs. Conant's "Trans- 
lators of the English Bible;" Hoare's "Evolution of the 
English Bible," p. 43 sq.; Smyth's "Where we got our 
Bible." 

31 



John Gower (b. 1325, d. 1408), a very voluminous, very 
correct, but not very gifted poet, author of the "Speculum 
Meditantis" written in French; the "Vox Clamantis" 
written in Latin; and the " Confessio Amantis" written 
in English of the Norman-French type — a fact which 
curiously illustrates the confusion of tongues in England. 
See the Temple edition of the " Confessio Amantis" and 
Lowell's "Literary Essays/' Vol. III. (essay on Chaucer.) 

William Langland (b. circ. 1332), author of "Piers Plow- 
man/' or " Visio Wilhelmi de Petro Plowman, et Visio 
ejusdem de Do-Wel, Do-Bet et Do-Best," a homely but 
very vigorous satire — largely allegorical — on the abuses 
of the time. Three drafts of the poem, which was im- 
mensely popular, exist. 

A Text (1362). 2567 lines. Most spirited and vigorous 
form. See Morris and Skeat's "Specimens of Early Eng- 
lish." 

B Text (1377). Considerable additions, evincing marked 
originality. See Clarendon Press edition. 

C Text (1380). Diffuse, and evincing a tendency to 
theological subtleties. 

The poem is alliterative and unrhymed, after the Anglo- 
Saxon fashion. Leading characteristics: (a) Genuine 
poetic feeling, (b) Quaint and quiet humor, (c) Inciden- 
tal sketches of every-day life.(d) Political and religious 
opinions in advance of the author's age. (e) Enlightened 
liberality. 

Consult Brown's " Chaucer's England;" Hales's "The Age of 
Chaucer;" JusserancTs "Piers Plowman;" Miss Scudder's "Social 
Ideals in English Letters," pp. 7-45. 

Illustrative specimens of all the authors mentioned in this section 
will be found in Craik's "English Prose" and Ward's "English 
Poets," which are indispensable to a school library. Galton's 
"English Prose" (which costs only 40 cents) is also very valuable. 



33 



V. GEOFFREY CHAUCER. 



A. His Life. Geoffrey Chaucer, born 1328 (? about 
1340), was the son of John Chaucer, a wealthy London 
vintner. The place of his education is not certainly known; 
but he was thoroughly well educated. In 1357, he was 
a page in the family of Prince Lionel, son of Edward III. 
In 1359-60, he was a soldier and prisoner of war in France. 
In 1367, he was in the service of Edward III., and received 
a pension of 20 marks — not, however, to encourage his 
poetic tastes. Chaucer wrote nothing as Poet Laureate, 
and never held the office. 

He married, not later than 1366, Philippa, daughter 
of Sir Paon cle Roet and sister of Lady Katherine Swyn- 
ford, subsequently Duchess of Lancaster — a fact which 
materially influenced the poet's fortunes. 

He was sent abroad as ambassador, on important busi- 
ness, ten times between 1370 and 1380. He was appointed 
Comptroller of the Customs for the port of London, June 
8, 1374, Royal favor continued under Richard II. (1378). 
On May 3, 1382, he received an additional custom-house 
appointment. 

He was not a prisoner in the tower; but Knight of the 
Shire for Kent in the parliament of 1386. He was de- 
prived of his custom-house appointments in the same year; 
and, in 1386-89, old, lonely and poor. Special marks of 
royal favor were shown him on the accession of Henry IV., 
son of the Duke of Lancaster, 1399. He died Oct. 25, 
1400, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. 

B. His Works. Chaucer marks a new era in English 
literature — the beginning of the English renaissance. He 
was the first, and is still the best, of English descriptive 
poets. The metre which he most frequently used was 
substantially adopted by Shakspere and Milton. He was 

35 



a man of affairs as well as a poet; still he was a voluminous 
writer. Three periods are to be recognized in his literary 
career. 

1. A Period of French Influence, previous to his Italian 
journey in 1373. Chaucer's "A. B. C." (a free translation 
from DeGuilville) , "Compleynte to Pite," and "Dethe 
of Blaunche" belong to this period. 

2. A Period of Italian Influence, 1374-1384, exemplified 
by the "Parlament of Foules" (after the "Teseide" of 
Boccaccio), and the "Hous of Fame." 

3. A period of English Influence, 1384-1400, to which 
belong his "Legende of Goode Women/' " Compleynte to 
Venus" and "The Canterbury Tales" — his acknowledged 
masterpiece, and a poem of enduring popularity. 

C. An estimate of his Genius. The mental characteris- 
tics of Chaucer, as gleaned from his poems, are: 1. Child- 
like simplicity of thought and diction. 2. Intense love 
of nature. 3. Keen insight into character. See Alexander 
Smith's "Dreamthorpe." 4. Ready sympathy with all 
phases of human life. 5. Mingled humor and pathos. 
6. Rare skill in the details of the poetic art. 

Chaucer was a descriptive, rather than a dramatic, poet. 
That he excelled equally in love for nature and insight 
into man is, perhaps, his most striking characteristic. 
DeQuincey, Coleridge and Emerson regard him as only 
second to Shakspere among all our English poets. Mean- 
while, his services in developing and fixing our language 
were similar to those of Dante to the Italian, and Luther to 
the German. 

Lounsbury's " Studies in Chaucer" is an invaluable thesaurus of 
material for the student. Pollard's "Chaucer Primer" is admir- 
able. The best editions are the six-text edition of the Chaucer 
Society; "The Eversley Chaucer" (Pollard, 2 vols.); Skeat's 
"Student's Chaucer" (one vol.); the Clarendon Press editions of 



37 



portions of "The Canterbury Tales." The Astor edition (T. Y. 
Crowell & Co.) is very cheap and very satisfactory. Other books 
that should not be overlooked are: Mrs. Haweis's "Chaucer for 
Children;" Saunders's "Canterbury Tales;" the life of Chaucer in 
"The English Men of Letters Series;" Lowell's "Literary Essays," 
Vol. III. 



39 



VI. FROM THE DEATH OF CHAUCER (1400) TO 
THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH (1558). 



The period immediately succeeding Chaucer was a period 
of literary stagnation. This was due to (1) the continu- 
ance of the fruitless struggle for the possession of France; 
(2) the Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485; (3) the decline of 
popular liberty; (4) political instability and religious 
persecution. 

England shared this nonproductive condition ; however, 
with the continent. No literature worth the attention of 
the general student was produced save some of the old 
ballads — e. g. " Chevy Chase," See Gummere's "Old Eng- 
lish Ballads." 

The capture of Constantinople by the Turks, in 1543, 
resulted in a revival of learning throughout Europe, which 
was marked, so far as England was concerned, by the 
setting up of the first printing-press in 1476. 

William Caxton was the first English printer; and the 
first book printed in England was "The Dictes and Say- 
ings of Philosophers," Caxton published 64 volumes, of 
which the most noteworthy was Sir Thomas Malory's 
"Byrth, Lif and Actes of Kyng Arthur" (1485). 

On Caxton, see Blades's life; Humphrey's "History of Printing;" 
Knight's "The Old Printer and the Modern Press;" There is a 
cheap reprint of Malory's "Morte d' Arthur" in "The Camelot 
Classics;" and it is also reprinted in "The Temple Classics," in 4 
vols.; Mead's selections, in the "Athenaeum Library," will be 
very helpful. 

We must recognize two phases of the English Renai- 
ssance. 

1. The Religious Renaissance, typified by William Tyn- 
dale, who published the first English translation of the 
New Testament from the original Greek in 1525. Tyn- 
dale's influence on subsequent English versions was great. 

41 



He made our English Bible a Bible for the common people. 
The principal versions in the line of succession were : "Miles 
Coverdale's Bible," 1535; "The Great Bible/' or Crom- 
well's Bible/' 1538; "Cranmer's Bible/' 1540; "The 
Bishops' Bible/' 1568; "King James's Version/' 1611. 

The most important versions outside of the line of succes- 
sion were: "The Geneva Bible" and "The Douay Bible." 

See Anderson's "Annals of the English Bible;" Westcott's 
"History of the English Bible;" article on "Version, Authorized" 
in Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible;" Smyth's "How we got our 
Bible;" Hoare's "Evolution of the English Bible." 

To this period also belong the first of the long line of 

great English preachers — Hugh Latimer (b. 1472, d. 1556) ; 

and the first of the English metrical versions of the Psalms, 

that of Sternhold and Hopkins, 1562. 

See "Arber's Reprints," for Latimer's Sermons, which are better 
worth reading than some of our day. Also, Cassell's "National 
Library." 

2. The Secular Renaissance, typified by the Earl of 
Surrey — beheaded in 1549 — who (1) translated part of the 
Aeneid; (2) introduced blank verse; and (3) attempted 
to naturalize the sonnet — with such success that the 
English Sonnet became a favorite form of verse for Shak- 
spere and his contemporaries. On the English Sonnet, 
see Lanier's "Forerunners of Shakspere," Vol. 1, p. 167 sq. 

With the Earl of Surrey, we must associate Sir Thomas 
Wyatt (b. 1503, d. 1542), whose poems are thought by some 
to mark the beginning of English lyric poetry. 

See Pattee's "Foundations of English Literature," pp. 
187, 199; Schelling's "Elizabethan Lyrics;" "The Wyatt 
Anthology;" Arber's "English Garner." 

Other authors who belong to this period are: 

John Skelton (b. 1460, d. 1529), a rude, but vigorous, 
political satirist, who wrote three poems expressive of the 
popular contempt for Cardinal Wolsey. 

43 



Sir Thomas More (b. 1480, d. 1535). Lord Chancellor 
of England — a martyr to his religious convictions — an 
enthusiastic admirer of the new learning, but not the new 
religion. His "Richard III." is the first example of mod- 
ern English prose. His "Utopia" is a great philosophical 
romance, embodying conceptions of social polity far in 
advance of his age. 

See Green's "Short History of the English People," p. 325 sq.; 
Miss Manning's " Household of Sir Thomas More;" Miss Scudders 
"Social Ideals in English Letters," pp. 46-79; the Pitt Press edition 
of "The Utopia," or Morley's "Ideal Commonwealths." 

Roger Ascham (b. 1515, d. 1568) , tutor to Queen Eliza- 
beth, and author of "Toxophilus" and "The Scholemaster," 
which mark a decided advance in English prose style. See 
Arber's " Reprints " and CasselFs " National Library. " 

The accession of Elizabeth (1558), introduced a period 

of political and religious stability, and consequent literary 

activity. The Protestant Reformation, by clearing the 

moral atmosphere, and emancipating thought; and the 

Revival of Learning, by giving impulse and guidance, 

made this the great creative period in English literature. 

See HazlitVs " Lectures on Dramatic Literature," Chapter 1. 

On this period, consult Saintsbury's "Elizabethan Literature" 
and E. P. Whipple's " Literature of the Age of Elizabeth." 



45 



VII. EDMUND SPENSER. 



The "permanent revival of the English poetic spirit was 
typified by Edmund Spenser, who was the first author 
of the Elizabethan age to achieve enduring reputation. 
He was born in London, 1552; and graduated at Pem- 
broke College, Cambridge, in 1573. His " Shepheard '.s 
Calendar" (1579), consisting of twelve "seglogues," 
gave promise of future greatness; but the average reader 
will find it unattractive. 

Spenser was befriended by Sir Philip Sidney, whose 
untimely death he commemorated by his " Astrophel" 
(1595). In 1580, he was appointed private secretary to 
Lord Grey cle Wilton, Lieut. Governor of Ireland. In 
1586, he received a grant of Kilcolman Castle, where he 
resided for twelve years. In 1589 he went to England with 
Sir Walter Raleigh, who had also received a grant from 
the forfeited estates of the Earl of Desmond, carrying the 
first three books of "The Faery Queene." 

These were published in 1590, and Spenser received a 
pension from the Crown in the same year. Three more 
books of "The Faery Queene" were published in 1596. In 
1598, Tyrone's rebellion broke out, Kilcolman Castle was 
burned, and Spenser sought refuge in England, where he 
died Jan. 16, 1599. 

Among Spenser's minor poems, the "Colin Clout's come 
home again" (1595), the "Amoretti" (1594), and, above 
all, the " Epiihalamion" (1595) possess a personal sig- 
nificance which enhances their poetic merit. 

"The Faery Queene," which is unquestionably Spenser's 
masterpiece, is an allegorical poem, whose purpose was 
twofold: (1) to illustrate the struggle of the human soul 
after virtue ; (2) to commemorate the virtues of the most 
eminent personages of the poet's day. The plan of the 

47 



poem is severely, but justly, criticized by Church in the 
" English Men of Letters" Spenser. 

The unconscionable length of the poem — though its 
author did not live to complete it — appalls many. But 
it proves marvelously attractive to a person of poetic taste 
who takes it up for the first time; though it is likely to cloy 
by its very sweetness. These excellences, which have 
made Spenser preeminently "the poet's poet," are: 

1. The melody of his verse, which is clue largely to the 
stanzaic form which Spenser so admirably handles, and 
which perpetuates his name. See Corson, "Primer 
of English Verse." 

2. His keen appreciation of sensuous beauty. 

3. The ideality which dominates both thought and ex- 
pression. 

4. The nobility of his conception of human character 

and human life. 

Consult the Clarendon Press edition of Books I. and II. of "The 
Faery Queene;' ; Macmillan's edition of Book I (only 25 cents); 
Kate M. Warren's edition of the entire poem; Church's life of 
Spenser, in the "English Men of Letters" series; Lowell's 
"Literary Essays," Vol. IV. 

Most prominent among the Minor Poets of the Eliza- 
bethan Age, we may note: 

Samuel Daniel (1562-1619), author of a versified " His- 
tory of the Civil War between York and Lancaster." 

Michael Drayton (1563-1631), author of the "Polyol- 
bion." 

Sir John Davies (1569-1626), author of a striking poem 
on "The Soul of Man." 

John Donne, (1575-1631), Satires and Elegies. 

Joseph Hall, Bp. of Norwich (1574-1656), Satires. 

Phineas Fletcher (1582-1650), author of "The Purple 
Island." 



49 



Giles Fletcher (158S-1623), author of "Christ's Victory 
and Triumph." 

George Herbert (1593-1633), author of "The Temple/ 7 
which embodies some religious gems of quaint setting , but 
rare brilliancy. 

Francis Quarles (1592-1644), author of "The Emblems." 

Most of the poems to which reference is made above 
will be found in Arber's "English Garner." Consult also, 
his series of English Anthologies ; and his " English Scholar's 
Library of Old and Modern Authors." These collections 
will give the student access to many poems that are not 
otherwise accessible outside of a large library. 

Such lists as that just given afford especial opportunity 
for an individual student to look up an author, and make 
his classmates participants in his results. 



51 



V III. THE PROSE OF THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 



The Elizabethan Age not only witnessed a permanent 
revival of the English poetic spirit ; but a development, 
along two different lines, of a prose literature which has 
ever since commanded the admiration of mankind. 

I. Exemplifying a bookish tendency, which was largely 
determined by the study of the Greek and Latin classics, 
we have: 

Sir Philip Sidney (b. 1554, d, 1586), author of "The 
Arcadia" — a highly-wrought romance, written in a strain 
of prose-poetry; and "The Defense of Poesie" — the first 
meritorious example of English literary criticism. See 
Cook's edition of the latter work. 

Richard Hooker (b. 1553, d. 1600), whose "Ecclesiastical 
Polity" attracts, by the stateliness of its style, those who 
are not especially interested in the author's scholarly 
vindication of the rights of the English church. See the 
Clarendon Press edition of B. I. 

Sir Walter Raleigh (b. 1552, d. 1618), author of a vol- 
uminous "History of the World" which is, in our day, more 
admired than read. 

John Lyly (b. 1553, d. 1606), author of "Euphues: the 
Anatomy of Wit" and "Euphues and his England" — 
two stories written in an elaborately balanced style, brist- 
ling with classical allusions and references to a moralized 
natural history. This style — which has come to be known 
as "Euphuism" — was greatly admired and widely imitated 
in Lyly's day. 

See Arber's reprint of the " Euphues;" Jusserand's "English 
Novel in the Time of Shakspere," p. 104 sq.; Simonds's "Intro- 
duction to English Fiction," p. 27 sq.; Raleigh's "English Novel," 
p. 33 sq. 

53 



Greater than any of these names, is one ordinarily asso- 
ciated with those of Spenser and Shakspere as typical of 
the literary activity of the period under discussion. 

Sir Francis Bacon was born Jan. 22, 1561 and educated 
at the University of Cambridge. Between 1580 and 1586 
he studied law. In 1593 he entered Parliament and evinced 
rare capacity as a speaker. Failing to secure preferment 
from Queen Elizabeth, he espoused the cause of the Earl of 
Essex; but when Essex was tried for high treason in 1601, 
Bacon, as the Queen's counsel, appeared against him. In 
1609 he was appointed Solicitor General under James I.; 
and rose to be Lord Chancellor of England and Baron 
Verulam (1618). In 1621, he was impeached by Parlia- 
ment for taking bribes, heavily fined, and sentenced to 
imprisonment in the tow r er during the pleasure of the king. 
His punishment was speedily remitted; but he lived 
in retirement, devoting his leisure to philosophic pursuits, 
till April 9, 1626; and has passed into history as "The 
wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind." See Spedding's 
life; and essays by Macaulay and E. P. Whipple. 

Bacon's Essays (1597-1625), written in terse and vigor- 
ous language and pregnant with suggestive thought, is 
the work by w r hich Bacon is best known to students of 
English; and is one of those rare books, to borrow Bacon's 
own imagery, which should be " chewed and digested." 
West's edition (Pitt Press series) costs only $1.00 and is very 
satisfactory. The Advancement of Learning (see Claren- 
don Press eel.) is the most attractive of Bacon's philosophi- 
cal writings for the general reader. 

The Shakspere-Bacon Controversy. Of late years there 
has been a disposition, in certain quarters, to regard Bacon 
as the author of the dramas which have ordinarily been 
attributed to Shakspere. In support of this view — which 

55 



is emphatically rejected by all literary critics of established 
reputation — the Baconians allege (1) our ignorance of 
Shakspere; (2) the learning evinced by the Shaksperean 
plays; (3) coincidences, in thought and expression between 
the Shaksperean dramas and the acknowledged writings 
of Bacon. 

These arguments will not bear serious consideration; 
and, in opposition to them, we may urge (1) the fact that 
the Shaksperean authorship was unquestioned until the 
present day; (2) marked similarity between the questioned 
plays and poems whose Shaksperean authorship is beyond 
reasonable question; (3) the character of Bacon's acknowl- 
edged poetry — see Spedding's edition of Bacon's Works, 
Vol. 14, p. 123 sq. (4) the facts in regard to Bacon's, 
early and later life. 

For the best statement of the Baconian theory, see 
Edwin Reed's " Bacon vs. Shakspere." A very good brief 
refutation of the theory will be found in Allen's "Notes 
on the- Baeon-Shakspere Question." Cf. The Arena, Vol. 
VIII (1893); The "Atlantic Monthly," Vol. 80, p. 635 
(John Fiske.) 

II. The prose which we have thus far considered was of 
a lofty, dignified and philosophic type; but the period 
developed an English prose style of a more Colloquial 
Tendency, which, as exemplified in "King James's Version 
of the English Bible," has done much to mould and fashion 
English prose literature since the Elizabethan age. Tyn- 
dale's Bible was a translation designed for the common 
people and making use of the homely, familiar, e very-clay 
English speech. King James's Version rested upon founda- 
tions laid by William Tyndale (see Section VI) and perpetu- 
ated his methods. This version — which may be regarded as 
the literary masterpiece of its age — was the work of no 

57 



single man ; but the result of a consensus of literary opinion 

on the part of a large number of intelligent Englishmen. On 

its intrinsic excellence and its influence on subsequent English" 

prose, see Cook's "The Bible and English Prose Style." 

Consult, on this topic, Sherman's "Analytics of Literature;" Se- 
combe & Allen's "Age of Shakspere." For illustrative examples, 
see Craik's "English Prose." 



59 



IX. THE RISE OF ENGLISH DRAMATIC 
LITERATURE. 



Perhaps the most characteristic feature of the Eliza- 
bethan Age is its dramatic literature. This is the natural 
outgrowth of causes that had long been operative. See 
Karl Elze's " William Shakspere," p. 197. In England, 
as in Greece, the drama was of religious origin. As early 
as 1100, we have: 

The Miracle Plays, or Mysteries — rude dramatizations 
of the Scriptural narrative, or the legends of the saints, 
put upon the stage for the religious instruction of the 
masses. To get an idea of the nature of these plays, and 
the way they were put upon the stage, see Keltie's "British 
Dramatists/ 7 p. 22: White's "Life and Genius of Shak- 
spere," p. 336 sq.; Longfellow's "Christus: a Mystery" 
(especially "The Nativity"); Jean Ingelow's "Story of 
Doom." 

There were four centres of such representation in Eng- 
land; and accordingly we have the Chester, Townley, 
York and Coventry Mysteries. The Miracle Plays lin- 
gered longest in England at Coventry, in Shakespere's imme- 
diate vicinity. One is still performed, every ten years 
at Oberammergau, in the Bavarian highlands. See Black- 
burn's "Art in the Mountains;" Stead's " Passion-Play at 
Oberammergau. ' ' 

The influence of these plays on the English drama was 
threefold. (1) To promote the adoption of an historic 
method ; (2) To secure rich fulness of material ; (3) To pro- 
mote a blending of tragic with comic elements. 

Following the Miracle Plays, we have The Moralities, 
which emphasized the moral and sacramental teaching of 
the church, and to which the English drama was indebted 
for its ethical tendency. The oldest extant morality is 

61 



"The Castell of Perseverance ," in which Humanum Genus, 
Mundus, Caro, and Belyal are the principal characters. 
The tendency of these plays was to become allegorical, 
and the plots were no longer derived from historical sources; 
hence, they mark an advance in dramatic invention. The 
recent rendition of " Everyman" shows that they must 
have been by no means devoid of power. 

As the personification of abstract qualities had trans- 
formed the Miracle Plays; so the delineation of typical 
characters, designed to represent the manners and cus- 
toms of the day, transformed the Moralities. Thus 
comedy, or the ideal representation of contemporary 
life, was developed. The first English comedies were 
known as Interludes, and the most famous of these is "The 
Four P's," written by John Heywoocl, about 1530. 

The first English comedy, proper, is "Ralph Roister 
Doister" (see "Arber's Reprints")* written by Nicholas 
Udall in 1551. The first English tragedy was "Gorboduc, 
or Ferrex and Porrex," written in 1561 by Thomas Sack- 
ville, afterwards Lord Buckhurst, who first made use of 
blank verse for English dramatic purposes. 

A cluster of University wits, whose writings have little 
interest for the general reader, by development from 
these crude beginnings, gave us the Elizabethan Drama. 
They are well characterized in Saintsbury's "Elizabethan 
Literature," and adequately exemplified in Manly's "Pre- 
Shaksperean Drama.*' See, also, Gayley's "Representa- 
tive English Comedies : From the Beginnings to Shakspere." 

Christopher Marlowe (d. 1593), is the only dramatist 
preceding Shakspere worthy of especial note. See his 
" Edward II," (Henry Holt & Co, publish a good edition) 
and "Dr. Faustus" (Clarendon Press "Old English 
Drama"). 

63 



The Romantic Drama, thus developed, differed from the 
classical drama: 

1. In ignoring the " unities" of time, place and action, 
as they were understood by the Greeks. 

2. In substituting a moral order of the universe for 
blind, unreasoning fate. 

3. In its vigor of thought, richness of material, and 

freedom of manner. 

Consult, in addition to those works to which specific reference 
has been made, Miss Bates's "English Religious Drama " (which 
will be found especially helpful): Boas's "Shakspere and his Pre- 
decessors;" Hase's "Miracle Plays;" Pollard's "English Miracle 
Plays;" Gervinus's "Shakspere Commentaries;" SchlegePs "Dra- 
matic Literature;" Grohman's "Gaddings with a Primitive People" 
(on the Miracle Play in the Tyrol); Moulton's "Ancient Classical 
Drama" (on a play of Sophocles contrasted with a play of Shak- 
spere). 



65 



X. SHAKSPERE. 



A. The Man. 

Influence of Heredity. William Shakspere was born at 
Stratford, in Warwickshire, where the Teutonic and Keltic 
elements which fitted the English race for literary pre- 
eminence were most perfectly blended. His father, 
John Shakspere — a prosperous tradesman, who became 
chief magistrate of Stratford — was a typical representative 
of the Saxon yeomanry of England. His mother, Mary 
Arden — who belonged to one of the best families in War- 
wickshire — was of Norman-French descent. 

Influence of Environment. The time of Shakspere 's 
birth was one of intellectual emancipation, aesthetic awaken- 
ing and patriotic devotion. The place — by virtue of its 
rural beauty, and the historic associations that clustered 
about such centres as Warwick Castle and Kenilworth — 
was especially fitted to nourish and stimulate his mighty 
genius. 

See, on these topics, Baynes's " Shakspere Studies." On Stratford 
and its surroundings, Waite's " Shakspere 's Stratford," Sidney 
Lee's " Stratford on Avon," Irving 's "Sketch Book," William 
Winter's ." Shakspere 's England" and "Gray Days and Gold." 

His Education. Shakspere was born in April, 1564 — 
not later than the 23d. He probably attended the Strat- 
ford Grammar School, where he acquired at least the 
rudiments of a classical education. See Baynes, ut supra, 
pp. 147-249. Some suppose that he afterwards studied 
law. See Chief Justice Campbell on " Shakspere ? s Legal 
Acquirements." But Shakespere's knowledge of law has 
been over-rated; and can be explained in other ways. 
He was undoubtedly characterized by rare facility for 
acquisition and appropriation. See Dowden's " Shakspere: 
His Mind and Art." 



67 



His Marriaqe. In 1582, when only 18, Shakspere 
married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, the 
daughter of a substantial farmer of Shottery, near Stratford, 
under circumstances that were creditable to neither party. 

His Life in London, In 1586, Shakspere went to 
London — being, as some suppose, driven from Stratford 
for having been one of a party which broke into the park 
of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlcote, and stole his deer. Here 
he attained some distinction as an actor; rewrote old 
plays for the stage; and by 1592 attained such eminence 
as an author as to excite the bitter animosity of his rivals. 
See Robert Greene's " Groat's Worth of Wit." In 1597, 
Shakspere had acquired sufficient means to buy "New 
Place," one of the best houses in Stratford; and subse- 
quently he became joint-proprietor in both the Blackfriars 
and the Globe theatres. 

His Retirement to Stratford. From these sources, and 

from the income derived from his plays, he gradually 

acquired a competence; and, in 1612, retired to Stratford 

to enjoy that wealth and social position which he seems 

especially to have sought. He died, however, April 23, 

1616, and was buried in the village church at Stratford, 

where, protected by his quaint epitaph, his bones still rest. 

On the life of Shakspere, see Grant White's "Life and Genius of 
Shakspere;" Wilder's "Life of Shakspere;" Sidney Lee's "Life of 
Shakspere;" Karl Elze's "William Shakspere;" Dowden's "Intro- 
duction to Shakspere;" Halliwell-Phillips 's "Outline Life of Shaks- 
pere;" Mabie's "Shakspere." 

B. His Works. 

In 1593, Shakspere published his " Venus and Adonis" — 
a rhymed poem dealing with the mythological story of 
Venus's hapless love. In 1594, he published his "Rape 
of Lucrece" — of which the material was also derived from 
classical sources. Both these poems were dedicated to 
the Earl of Southampton, w r ho proved, according to tra- 

69 



ditlon, a munificent patron. Of all his poems the "Son- 
nets" published in 1609, have elicited most discussion. 
Some have supposed (see Tyler's ed.) that in these the 
hidden life of Shakspere is revealed. Others contend 
(see Sidney Lee's life) that, like the other sonneteers of 
the period, Shakspere gives us, in these exquisite poems, 
a purely ideal picture. 

The works already mentioned would have ensured for 
Shakspere a permanent, though inferior, place in English 
literature; but his genius found fuller and nobler expres- 
sion in his plays. Francis Meres, in his "Palladis Tamia" 
(1598), mentions twelve of these, including four that are 
only second to his very best. This points to a rapid devel- 
opment of Shakspere's genius. We should realize, however, 
that it was subject to development, and recognize the 
following periods in Shakspere's literary life. 

1. The Tentative Period (1585-1595), characterized by 
experiments in original composition in various abortive 
directions; but closing with "Romeo and Juliet" and 
"Midsummer Night's Dream." 

2. The Great History Period (1596-1602), during which 
Shakspere was at first manifestly an imitator of Marlowe; 
though he speedily became independent and self-reliant. 
To this period belong, besides the English historical plays, 
"The Merchant of Venice" and "As You Like it." 

3. The Great Tragedy Period (1603-1607), with which we 
are to associate "Hamlet," "Othello," "Macbeth" and 
"Lear." 

4. The Period of Greatest Maturity (1608-1613), typified 
by "Winter's Tale" and "The Tempest," which mark 
Shakspere's highest range of lofty, calm and philosophical 
thought. 

Between "Love's Labor's Lost," Shakespere's first play, 
and "The Tempest," possibly his last, there is a heaven- 

71 



wide difference in versification, in artistic skill, and in 
all that goes to make up the great dramatic poet. 

Thirty-seven plays are attributed to Shakspere; but 
with some of them (notably " Titus Andronicus" and 
"King Henry VI, P. I.) he probably had little, or nothing, 
to do. Sixteen of these plays were published in Shaks- 
pere's life time in "small quarto" form; but these were, as 
a rule, pirated editions. The first complete edition — 
"the first folio" — was published in 1623 by Heminge and 
Condell, who proved themselves thoroughly careless or 
grossly incompetent editors. A photo-lithographic copy 
can be obtained for $3.75. Cf. Porter & Clarke's First 
Folio reprint of the individual plays. 

In 1632, "the second folio" — a more respectable reprint 
of the first — appeared. In 1664, "the third folio" added 
seven plays to the thirty-six previously attributed to 
. Shakspere. All but one of these — " Pericles, Prince of 
Tyre" — have been rejected. Some wxmld reject that, and 
retain "The Two Noble Kinsmen." 

Helps to the study of Shakspere's plays — which may be archaeol- 
. ogical and linguistic, aesthetic, or philosophical — are "The Globe 
edition " (the accepted reference Shakspere) ; "The Temple edition " 
(which devotes one volume to each play, and is an admirable reading 
edition); "Furness's edition" (a perfect thesaurus of critical and 
illustrative material); Craik's "English of Shakspere;" Dowden's 
"Shakspere Primer;" Bartlett's "Concordance to Shakspere;" 
Schmidt's "Shakspere-Lexicon;" Mrs. O'Connor's "Index to 
Shakspere"; Moulton's "Shakspere as a. Dramatic Artist," and 
"Moral System of Shakspere;" Ransome's "Short Studies of 
Shakspere's Plots." 

On the versification of Shakspere, Abbott's "Shaksperean Gram- 
mar" and Corson's "Introduction to Shakspere" will be helpful. 

C. Ax Estimate of Shakspere's Genius. 

Shakspere borrowed nearly all his plots, though he han- 
dled his borrowed material admirably; and was confes- 
sedly weaker in devising incidents than in creating char- 
acters. See Dowden's " Shakspere, his Mind and Art/' 

73 



p. 11. He was not so happy in conducting the action of a 
play to its close as in initiating that action. See Frey- 
tag's " Technique of the Drama/' pp. 110, 185. He is by 
no means a model of elegance and good taste. But we 
must still regard his genius as of the very highest order 
because of: 

1. His subtle insight into human character and motive — 
in which he was consummate and supreme. 

2. The rare blending of analytic and synthetic power 
which he evinces. See Macaulay's essay on Madame 
d'Arblay, and Bucknil's "Mad Folk of Shakspere." 

3. The universality of his genius. He has more points of 
contact with man and nature than any other author — a 
fact that is strikingly illustrated by the popularity of his 
Hamlet. Of all dramatists, he alone was equally master 
of tragedy and comedy. Shakspere is to Chaucer, or 
Tennyson, as the poet of all time is to the poet of a single 
age. 

4. His wonderful objectivity — or, his capacity to iden- 
tify himself with the character which he is. for the time 
creating — with its resulting realism. 

5. The ease and grace with which his most difficult and 
most subtle achievements are accomplished — the impress- 
ion that he gives of immense reserve power. Shakspere 
is, to the modern world of letters, wmat Homer was to the 
ancient world; or Dante to mediaeval times. 

Shakspere excels (1) jn delineating character; (2) in 
emphasizing the consequences that result from character; 
(3) in asserting the supremacy of moral law; but he was 
limited on the spiritual side of his nature. See Saints- 
bury's "Elizabethan Literature/' p. 168: Mabie's "Short 
Studies in Literature/' p. 126; Whipple's "Literature of 
the Age of Elizabeth," pp 68-70. This was due to the 

75 



fact that, in the progressive development of English lit- 
erature, that spiritual stage, typified by Tennyson and 
Browning, had not been reached. Cf. Sherman's " Analy- 
tics of Literature." 

Consult, in addition to the works to which reference has already 
been made, Gervinus' "Shakspere Commentaries;" Ulrici's "Shaks- 
pere's Dramatic Art;" Coleridge's "Lectures on Shakspere and 
Milton" (Bonn's Universal Library); Hazlitt's "Characters of 
Shakspere's Plays;" Ten Brink's "Lectures on Shakspere;" Brande's 
"William Shakspere." 

The Minor Dramatists of the Elizabethan Age. 

Mention has already been made of Christopher Marlowe. 
Other names worthy of note, with typical works, are : 

Ben Jonson (b. 1573, d. 1637), " Every Man in his 
Humour." 

Francis Beaumont (b. 1586, d. 1616), "Philaster." 
John Fletcher (b. 1579, d. 1640), "The Faithful Shep- 
herdess." 

Philip Massinger (b. 1584, d. 1640), "A New Way to 
Pay Old Debts." 

Thomas Heywoool (b. 1581, d. 1640), "A Woman killed 
with Kindness." 

John Webster, "The Duchess of Malfi" (1616.) 

Keltie's "British Dramatists/' or Thayer's "Elizabethan Drama," 
will give an adequate representation of these authors. See, how- 
ever, the Mermaid Edition of their complete works; and the attract- 
ive Temple Edition of single plays. For discriminating criticism, 
see Hazlitt's "Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth," and 
Lamb's "Specimens from the Dramatic Poets." 



77 



XII. JOHN MILTON. 



At the beginning of the English renaissance (see section 
VI), we noticed a secular tendency, typified by the Earl 
of Surrey; and a religious tendency, typified by William 
Tyndale. According to Taine, these tendencies were com- 
bined, as the English renaissance drew to a close, in John 
Milton. 

A. Milton's Life. Milton was born in London, Dec. 9, 
1608. His father was a man of considerable culture and 
musical taste. From his early childhood, Milton was de- 
voted to study — at first at home under a private tutor 
(Thomas Young, one of the authors of "Smectymnuus") ; 
afterwards, at Saint Paul's School. From 1625 to 1632, 
he was in residence at Christ College, Cambridge, during 
which period he was rusticated for some trouble with his 
tutor. While still at Cambridge (1629), he wrote his 
magnificent "Hymn on the Nativity" 

From 1632 to 1638 — at Horton, where his father re- 
sided — he devoted himself to the study of the Greek and 
Latin classics, previous English literature, and the Scrip- 
tures in the original tongues. At this time, Milton wrote 
his " U Allegro " "II Penseroso" "Comas" and " Lycidas " 
— which have been the most popular of all his works. 

In 1638, Milton went abroad and visited France, Italy 
and Switzerland. In 1639 he returned home to partici- 
pate in the political and religious struggle then impend- 
ing. From 1639 to 1649, he was engaged in teaching; 
but during this period published some controversial writ- 
ings in which he assailed the high church tendencies of 
Archbishop Laud, his "Tractate on Education/' and his 
" Areppagitica." The latter (1644) was a plea for the 
unlicensed freedom of the press, and is the most attrac- 
tive of Milton's prose writings. See Clarendon Press 
edition. 

79 



In 1643, Milton married Mary Powell, the daughter of 
an Oxfordshire Cavalier, whose subsequent desertion of 
her studious and devout husband led him to publish four 
treatises on divorce. A reconciliation was, however, ef- 
fected; and Milton's first wife (he was married three 
times) left him three daughters, whom he disinherited for 
unfilial conduct. See Clarendon Press edition of Milton's 
Poems, and " The Maiden and Married Life of Mary Powell." 

In 1649, Milton, by appointment of the Council of State, 
wrote his " Eikoneklastes," to counteract the influence of 
the "Eikon Basilike" — written by Bishop Gauden, but 
attributed to Charles I. He was also appointed to write 
a reply to the "Defensio Regia" of Salmasius, and delib- 
erately sacrificed his failing eye-sight to the preparation 
of his " Defensio pro Populo Anglicano," published in 1651. 
From 1651 to 1659, he was Latin Secretary to the Common- 
wealth under Cromwell, conducting the foreign corres- 
pondence of England at a time when she was more feared 
and respected abroad than she is today. 

After the restoration of the Stuarts (1660), Milton lived 
in retirement till Nov. 8, 1674, devoting himself again, 
and with more strenuous energy, to poetry. 

B. We must recognize three Periods in Milton's 
Literary Career. 

I. The Early Verse Period (1629-1639), or from his grad- 
uation as A. B. to the close of his foreign tour. 

II. The Prose Period (1639-1660), corresponding with 
the ascendancy of the English Commonwealth. 

III. The Later Verse Period (1660-1674), during which 
Milton gave to the world his " Paradise Lost" (1667), his 
"Paradise Regained" and "The Samson Agonistes" (both 
in 1671.) 

SI 



C. Ax Estimate of His Genius. Milton is regarded by 
many competent critics, as "the first of English poets " — 
in proof of which they appeal to: 

1. His sublimity. See " Paradise Lost/' B. III. L. 1-55. 

2. The vigor of his imagination — a point which Taine 
(Vol. I, p. 410) would by no means concede. 

3. His learning — which unquestionably surpassed that 
of all other English poets; but did not directly tend to 
inspire his verse. 

4. His consummate moral purity. 

5. The high degree of artistic excellence that uniformly 
characterizes his poetry. 

6. The mingled majesty and grace of his verse. 

Over against these excellences we must set certain 
obvious defects: 

1. Lack of passion — fire — enthusiasm. His stately and 
dignified prose is far more impassioned than his poetry. 
Sometimes, too impassioned. See Matthew Arnold's "A 
French Critic on Milton." 

2. Lack of humor. Contrast Bunyan here. 

3. Lack of psychologic insight. 

4. Consequent lack of human interest. 

Consult on Milton: Masson's Life; Garnett's Life in the "Great 
Writers Series;" Corson's " Autobiographical Writings of Milton;" 
Sotheby's "Rambles in elucidation of Milton's Autograph;" Ad- 
dison's papers on Milton in "The Spectator;" essays on Milton by 
Johnson, Southey, Hazlitt, Landor, Channins;, Macaulay, Lowell, 
J. B. Seeley. 

The best school editions are: The Clarendon Press Milton; 
Bell's " L' Allegro, II Penseroso, etc." (Macmillan); Bell's "Comus;" 
Percival's "Samson Agonist es" (Macmillan) ; Huntington's "L* Al- 
legro, II Penseroso, Comus and Lycidas" (Ginn and Co.); Trent's 
"L'Allegro, II Peneroso, Comus and Lycidas" (Longman); Verity's 
"Cambridge Milton for Schools." 

Other NOTEWORTHY NAMES BELONGING TO THE CLOSING 

Period of the English Renaissance. (See Masterman's 
"Age of Milton," and "The Milton Anthology.") 

83 



I. Puritans. 

John Selden (1584-1654), author of "Table Talk." 

Richard Baxter (1615-1691) , author of "The Saint's 
Everlasting Rest." 

John Bunyan (1628-1668), author of "Pilgrim's Pro- 
gress," etc. 

Bunyan 1 s principal characteristics (which have achieved 
for him world-wide popularity) are: 

(1) His marvelous English — simple, sweet and strong. 

(2) His mingled humor and pathos. 

(3) His keen insight into character. 

(4) His Dantesque power of investing the creations of 
his imagination with reality. 

II. Cavaliers. 

Robert Herrick (1591-1674.) 
Edmund Waller (1605-1687.) 
Sir John Suckling (1609-1642.) 
Col. Lovelace (1618-1658.) 

Authors who have left us some charming lyrics — mostly 
amatory and Bacchanalian, See Schelling's "Elizabethan 
Lyrics." 

Izaak Walton (1593-1683), author of that charming 
pastoral "The Complete Angler." 

Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682), best known by the 
"Religio Medici" and the "Hydriotaphia," which evince 
a wonderful mastery of English prose rhythm. Reprinted 
in "The Temple Classics." 

Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), author of "The Worthies 
of England," and deservedly famous for his quaint humor. 

Jeremy Ta ylor (1613-1667), one of the great English preach- 
ers — according to Emerson, "the Shakspere of Divines." 

Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon (1608-1674), author of 
a "History of the Rebellion" which terminated in the 
restoration of the Stuarts. 



85 



One who is at all familiar with the authors just named 
must realize that the religious tendency which character- 
ized the close of the English Renaissance was shared by 
the Cavaliers as well as the Roundheads. 



87 



XIII. THE AGE OF QUEEN ANNE. 



A reaction against the religious asceticism of the pre- 
vious period was inevitable; and the restoration of the 
Stuarts made it sudden and intense. A new literature 
sprang up which was formed after French models rather 
than those of Italy or Greece. 

This transition was marked by the " Hudibras" of Sam- 
uel Butler (1663-1678), a mock-heroic poem which merci- 
lessly satirized the Puritans who had so lately controlled 
the destinies of England. 

This period of French influence extended from 1660 
to 1789; and is by no means homogeneous; though 
throughout the whole of it French Classicism (represented 
by Voltaire and Boileau) was dominant in England. The 
lowest stage of literary degradation was reached early 
in the period, by the comic dramatists Wycherley and 
Congreve. See Macaulay on "The Comic Dramatists 
of the Restoration." Jeremy Collier's " Short View of 
the Profaneness and Immorality of the English Stage" 
(1698) created a purer atmosphere. But English Litera- 
ture, down to the French Revolution of 1789, is predom- 
inantly characterized by laxity of morals and shallowness 
of thought, partially redeemed by the artistic skill of its 
representative authors. The brightest portion of the 
period — nearly coincident with the reign of Anne (1702- 
1714) — has been called "The Augustan Age of English 
Literature;" but the use of the term is questionable. 

This age, however, supplied that culture and refine- 
ment which were necessary to supplement the life-giving 
impidse of the Elizabethan period; and to it we are largely 
indebted for the smoothness and finish of modern Eng- 
lish verse, the clearness and compactness of modern 
English prose. The typical writers of the period are: 

89 



In Poetry — Dryden, Pope, Goldsmith and Gray. 

In Prose — Addison, Steele, Goldsmith and Johnson. 

John Dryden (b. 1641, d. 1700), was hampered by French 
influences and overestimated his powers; but was the 
literary magnate of his day and deserves much of the 
praise given to Pope for imparting finish and elegance 
to English poetry. He was a master of felicitous dic- 
tion in poetry and prose. Most widely known by his 
"Ode on St. Cecilia's Day/' and his " Alexander's Feast;" 
best known by his satires, especially "Mac Flecknoe." 

See the Clarendon Press Dryden; essays by Macaulav and Lowell; 
Vaughan's "English Literary Criticism" (on Dryden's prose); 
Garnett's "Age of Dryden." 

Alexander Pope (b. 1688, d. 1774), was the representative 

poet of the period; being pre-eminently characterized 

by shallowness of thought and accuracy and neatness of 

expression. See his " Essay on Man" and " Essay on 

Criticism." He is never profound; but infallibly clear 

and effective — affording a rare stock of quotable passages. 

He is seen at his best, perhaps, in " The Rape of the Lock." 

His translation of Homer is at once the best and the worst 

in the English language. 

See Lowell ("Literary Essays," Vol. III.) ; Leslie Stephen ("Hours 
in a Library"); Austin Dobson (in Seribner's Monthly for May, 
1888); Dennis's "Age of Pope." 

Oliver Goldsmith (b. 1728, d. 1774). His " Traveller " 
and " Deserted Village" are the most charming types of 
eighteenth century poetic literature. His prose style is 
perhaps the most perfect that this age of refinement de- 
veloped. 

An adequate representation of both Goldsmith's prose and 
poetry will be found in "Morlev's Lniversal Library" for only 40 
cents. See lives by Irving and Forster. 

Thomas Gray (b. 1716, d. 1771) is best known by his 
"Elegy in a Country Church Yard;" but his "Bard," a 

91 



far more vigorous poem, typifies romantic tendencies that 
were at variance with the prevailing pseudo-classical 
spirit. See Phelps's selections in the " Athenaeum Press 
Series. " 

Joseph Addison (b. 1672, d. 1719), is commonly regarded 
as the greatest master of elegant and facile English prose 
which this age has produced ; but he lacks strength and is 
almost too sweet. "The Spectator" — to which he gave 
tone even when the papers are from other pens than his — 
should be read by snatches. Addison may be regarded as 
a shrewd observer of life and manners; a quiet, yet effec- 
tive humorist ; a genial satirist of irreligion and immorality 
— but that is all. See Thurber's "Select Essays of Addi- 
son." 

Sir Richard Steele (b. 1671, d. 1729), the founder of "The 
Tatier," and Addison's coadjutor in "The Spectator," 
is far superior to Addison in vigor and vivacity. 

Samuel Johnson (b. 1709, d. 1784) filled a larger space 
in the literary life of the period than any other man. 

See Boswell's life — of which there is a capital reprint in "The 
Temple Classics;" Secombe's "Age of Johnson." Also the essays 
by Macauiay and Carlyle, in Strunk's edition. 

Johnson's style, though tinged with Latinisms, is clear, 
strong, sonorous, dignified. He rendered signal service 
to English literature by giving us our first thorough and 
comprehensive English dictionary; and his "Lives of the 
Poets" are well worth reading when he is dealing with men 
of talent rather than men of genius. 

It was formerly the custom unduly to exalt the "Queen 
Anne's men." Now we are disposed to decry them. But 
we find in this period the germs of certain literary types 
whose development is the most striking characteristic 
of the Victorian period. For example : 

93 



1. The first two names in the long line of eminent Eng- 
lish historians — Hume and Gibbon. 

2. The rise of English periodical literature, as repre- 
sented by DeFoe's "Review" (1704); Steele's "Tatler" 
(1709); Addison's "Spectator" (1711); Cave's "Gentle- 
man's Magazine" (1731); Johnson's "Rambler" (1750.) 

3. The rise of modern schools of scientific thought, rep- 
resented in mental science, by Locke, Reid, Hume; in 
physical science, by Newton; in political science, by Defoe, 
Burke and Adam Smith. ("Wealth of Nations," 1776.) 

4. The rise of Methodism — or a general revival of relig- 
ion and morality throughout England. A period surely 
is not contemptible religiously, which boasts such names 
as those of Butler, Burnet , South, Wesley and Whitefield. 

5. The development of the English novel by Defoe, Rich- 
ardson, Fielding, Goldsmith, etc. See Section XIV. 

6. An anticipation at least, in Fanny Burney, of that 
literary prominence of woman which has been a striking 
characteristic of nineteenth century English literature. 

Daniel Defoe (b. 1661, cl. 1731), was, perhaps, the great- 
est man of this period; though certainty not its most 
typical representative. He may be regarded as: 

(1) A staunch advocate of civil and religious liberty. 

(2) The founder of English periodical literature. 

(3) One of the great masters of English prose. 

(4) The founder of English prose fiction. 

Consult on the period: Gosse's " Eighteenth Century Literature;" 
Thackeray's " English Humorists"; "Four Georges" and " Henry 
Esmond;" The " English Men of Letters" series; Hales's "Longer 
English Poems;" Morley's "Burke;" Ward's "English Poets;" 
Craik's "English Prose;" Phelps's "Rise of English Romantic 
Literature." 

Specific mention has been made, in the survey of this 
long period, of only ten authors. Others will be mentioned 
in the discussion of subsequent topics; and more specific 

95 



mention will be made of some who have been casually 
named. The following list will suggest other names which 
may profitably be assigned for dissertations, or made the 
basis of class-room discussion. 

MOST PROMINENT AUTHORS. CLASSICAL PERIOD. 

Samuel Butler, 1612-1680, Hudibras. 
John Dryclen, 1631-1700, Alexander's Feast. 
John Locke, 1632-1674, Essay concerning Human Un- 
derstanding. 

Robert South, 1633-1716, Sermons. 
Sir Isaac Newton, 1642-1727, Principia. 
Gilbert Burnet, 1647-1716, History of the Reformation. 
Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745, Gulliver's Travels. 
Joseph Addison, 1672-1719, The Spectator. 
Sir Richard Steele, 1671-1729, The T.atler. 
Daniel DeFoe, 1661-1731, Robinson Crusoe. 
Alex. Pope, 1688-1744, Rape of the Lock, Essay on Man. 
James Thomson, 1700-1748, The .Seasons. 
Sam. Johnson, 1709-1784, Rasselas, Lives of Poets. 
Thomas Reid, 1710-1796, Intellectual Powers of Man. 
David Hume, 1711-1776, History of England. 
Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, Bard, Elegy. 
William Collins, 1720-1756, Ode on the Passions. 
Charles Wesley, 1708-1788, Hymns. 
Adam Smith, 1723-1790, Wealth of Nations. 
Oliver Goldsmith, 1728-1774, Deserted Village. 
Edmund Burke, 1729-1797, Orations, Reflections. 
William Cowper, 1731-1800, The Task, Hymns. 
Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794, Decline and Fall of Rome. 
James Boswell, 1740-1795, Life of Johnson. 
Sir Philip Francis, 1740-1818, Letters of Junius. 
Robert Burns, 1759-1796, Tarn O'Shanter, Songs. 

97 



XIV. THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH FICTION. 



A. From its Crude Beginnings to the Death of 
Scott. 

For the absolute beginnings of British Fiction , we must 
go very far back. Morley's " Early Prose Romances" will 
be an adequate guide. Sir Thomas Malory's "Morte 
d' Arthur," Sir Thomas More's "Utopia," and Sir Philip 
Sidney's "Arcadia" have already been noticed. 

The more familiar one becomes with such works of Eliza- 
bethan fiction as John Lyly's "Euphues" (1579-80), Thos. 
Lodge's "Rosalynde" (1590), and Robert Greene's "Pan- 
dosto" (1588), the more keenly will he realize that modern 
British fiction is the lineal descendant of the Elizabethan 
drama, rather than congenital with it. 

See Jusserand's "English Novel in the Time of Shakspere;" 
Simonds's "Introduction to English Fiction" and Hazlitt's "Shaks- 
pere Library." 

Some have traced the beginning of recent British fic- 
tion to John Bunyan, whose " History of Mr. Badman" 
does read somewhat like a modern novel. Others regard 
Dean Swift (b. 1667, d. 1748), as the father of British fic- 
tion; but even when, as in " Gulliver's Travels," his vigor- 
ous intellect affects the narrative style, he must be regarded 
as the first of political satirists rather than a proper British 
novelist. 

See selections from Swift in the "Camelot Classics," and "Gul- 
liver's Travels " in "The Temple Classics." 

Only with Daniel Defoe, whose "Robinson Crusoe" was 
published in 1719, can modern British fiction be said to 
have a beginning. Defoe originated and perfected the 
story of adventure — of which the most essential charac- 
teristic is verisimilitude. 

See his "Journal of the Plague" (Carpenter's edition); "Captain 
Singleton" (in the Camelot Classics); and "Moll Flanders," which 
should commend him to our modern realists. 



99 



Samuel Richardson gave us, in 1740, the first English 
society novel, " Pamela Andrews." His stories, which are 
developed through the medium of letters, are excessively 
prolix, unreal and unhealthful — though Richardson's pur- 
pose in writing them was entirely moral. But they at- 
tempt, at least, to copy nature, evince power and pathos, 
and mark the development of a new type of literature. 
" Clarissa Harlowe" is his best book. 

Henry Fielding began to write novels to caricature 
Richardson. " Joseph Andrews" (1742) was his first book; 
"Tom Jones" his best. He is pronounced by Scott and 
Thackeray "the first of British novelists," and is cer- 
tainly superior to Richardson in knowledge of men and 
fidelity to nature. 

Laurence Sterne's " Tristram Shandy" — a freakish, plot- 
less, objectionable book, with many touches of humor and 
pathos — is out of the line of development. The novels of 
Tobias Smollett, too, mark no advance on previous British 
fiction. They are vigorous and witty; but irredeemably 
coarse. "Roderick Random" is the briefest and the 
cleanest. 

Sidney Lanier (see "The English Novel," p. 209 sq.) sternly 
condemns this entire group of novelists on ethical grounds. 

Goldsmith's simple and touching "Vicar of Wakefield" 
(1766), essentially modified the tone of British fiction; 
but its influence was not great. The gap between Field- 
ing's stories and the modern society novel was bridged 
by Fanny Burney in her "Evelina" (1778). See Mac- 
aulay's essay on Madam D'Arblay. 

In the transitional period between the earlier and later 
British fiction, no less than twenty novelists — of whom 
twelve were women — achieved considerable reputation. 
Three tendencies (none of which, fortunately, were persis- 
tent) asserted themselves: 

101 



1. A sentimental tendency — typified by Mackenzie's "Man 
of Feeling" (1771) ; and Godwin's " Caleb Williams" 
(1794.) 

2. A romantic tendency — typified by Horace Walpole's 
"Castle of Otranto" (1765); and Mrs. Radcliffe's "Myster- 
ies of Udolpho" (1794.) 

See Raleigh's "English Novel," p. 216, sq. 

3. A moralizing tendency — typified by Maria Edgeworth's 
"Castle Rackrent" (1801); and Hannah More's "Coelebs 
in Search of a Wife" (1809.) 

The greatest novelist of the period — who is inimitable 
in depicting quiet scenes from domestic life, and who 
carried "the society novel/' pure and simple, to perfec- 
tion — was Jane Austen, whose first novel, "Sense and Sen- 
sibility," was published in 1811. See, for an exalted es- 
timate of her genius, Howells's "Criticism and Fiction," 
p. 73 sq. Cf. C. F. Adams's "Story of Jane Austen's Life." 

Henry Fielding is commonly regarded as the first great 
English novelist; Jane Austen as the second. We come 
now to a third, Sir Walter Scott, who gave us a new type of 
fiction — the historical novel; though Thomas Nash in his 
"Jack Wilton" (1594), and Jane Porter, in her "Thaddeus 
of Warsaw" (1803) and "The Scottish Chiefs" (1810), had 
previously experimented in that direction. 

Between 1814 and 1832, Scott published " The Waverley 
Novels," in which he endeavored to bring before us, in 
the garb of fiction, the men and women of a bygone day. 
No novels have been more popular than these, and their 
sale is still immense; but Scott has been severely criti- 
cized by our modern realists for his alleged lapses from 
truth and nature. See Leslie Stephens's "Hours in a 
Library" and Howells's "Criticism and Fiction." Frederic 
Harrison, in his "Choice of Books," vigorously vindicates 

103 



Scott against these modern critical assaults; and the 
author of "Ivanhoe," "Qukntin Durward" and "The 
Heart of Midlothian" must certainly be credited with rare 
historic imagination. 

Masson, in his " Recent British Fiction/' found it neces- 
sary to discuss 35 British novelists who were contemporary 
with Scott. Of these, four deserve mention even in an 
outline sketch like the present. 

G. P. R. James was the author of 189 volumes of his- 
torical fiction which were once greatly admired, but are 
now little read. 

Francis Marry at, & captain in the Royal Navy, published 
several rollicking volumes of life at sea, of which " Peter 
Simple" and "Midshipman Easy" are still dear to the 
boyish heart, 

Benjamin Disraeli (better known as The Earl of Bea- 
consfteld) gave to the world several society novels, with 
a political trend, which owed their reputation largely to 
their author's political position. "Vivian Gray" ade- 
quately typifies his work. 

Bulwer Lytton is the only contemporary of Scott whose 
reputation, as a writer of fiction, is assured. His earlier 
novels (e. g. "Pelham") were romantic, unreal, unhealth- 
ful. His historical fiction (e. g. "Harold" and u The Last 
Days of Pompeii") was overladen with learning, and in- 
ferior, in imaginative power, to that of Scott. But there 
was a marvelous change in his manner towards the close 
of his career; and his later works (e. g. "The Caxtons") 
are simple, natural and pure, challenging comparison with 
the works of our best recent novelists. 



105 



XIV. THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH FICTION. 



B. From the Death of Scott to the Present Day. 

Previous to this time we have noticed three types of 
British fiction: 1. The Story of Adventure — typified 
by Defoe. 2. The Society Novel — developed by Rich- 
ardson, Fielding, Fanny Burney and Jane Austen. 3. 
The Historical Novel — typified by Sir Walter Scott. That 
is: we have already the story of incident and the story of 
character; but the story of character-consequences is still 
to be developed. 

In 1858, Masson estimated the number of tolerably 
successful novelists since the death of Scott as 100. Of 
course the number has immensely increased; and refer- 
ence can be made only to those whose influence has been 
greatest, and wdiose reputation is likely to be most per- 
manent. 

Charles Dickens (b. 1812, d. 1870), has been the most 
popular novelist of the period, dealing mainly with the 
middle class in English society and winning their suf- 
frages by his humor and pathos, and by a shrewxl, but 
somewhat superficial, observation of men and things. 
Dickens is, confessedly, a caricaturist, but a caricaturist 
of thoroughly optimistic tendency. His best story 
is "David Copperfielcl" (which is largely autobiographical), 
though he has left us, in "A Tale of Two Cities," an his- 
torical novel which many regard as the finest of his works. 

William Makepeace Thackeray (b. 1811, d. 1863) was, 
like Dickens, a caricaturist, but a caricaturist of somewhat 
cynical and pessimistic spirit. He excels Dickens in. the 
delineation of character (see, for example, "The New- 
comes"), and is generally preferred to Dickens by persons 
of culture and refinement. His stories are, as a rule, 
u society novels" of a historic tendency; and he has given us 

107 



in his "Henry Esmond" (with which compare his "Four 
Georges") a masterly delineation of eighteenth century life. 

"The Novel ivith a Purpose" — or the story written with 
specific intention to subserve some social, political or 
religious end — is a natural outgrowth of the practical 
and humanitarian spirit of the nineteenth century. Dick- 
ens's "Nicholas Nickleby" is a story of this type. Other 
illustrations are: Charles Readers "Put Yourself in his 
Place;" Mrs. Muloch-Craik's "Hannah;" Wilkie Collinses 
"Man and Wife;" Charles Kingsley's "Alton Locke" and 
Mrs. Humphrey Ward's "Robert Elsmere." 

" The Psychological Novel," or the story which seeks to 
analyze for us the character and motives of the person- 
ages with whom it deals — is an equally characteristic 
nineteenth century modification of "the society novel." 
See Richard H. Hutton's "Modern Guides to English 
Thought in Matters of Faith," p. 148. 

Charlotte Bronte, in her "Jane Eyre "gives us a marvel- 
ous example of this type of fiction. 

"George Eliot" (b. 1820, .d. 1881) is, however, regarded 
as the great master of psychologic fiction (see her "Adam 
Bede" and "Middlemarch") ; though her "Romola" may 
be regarded as an historical novel, and her "Daniel Deron- 
da" as a novel with a purpose. All her stories evince 
a very keen insight into character, and typify an analy- 
tic tendency which is characteristic of much recent British 
fiction. 

See Jaeobs's "George Eliot and Other Essays;" Wilkinson's 
"Free Lanee in Literature and Letters;" Hutton's "Essays in 
Literary Criticism;" John Morley's "Miscellanies," Vol. 3. 

"The Realistic Novel" is a more recent type of British 
fiction, and aims to make it the literal transcript of actual 
human life. This realistic movement is the result of a 
wide-spread, and by no means unnatural, reaction against 

109 



the imaginative excesses of the romantic school; and, 
though many of its adherents go to the opposite extreme 
of the bald and prosaic, while some of them are positively 
bestial, its ultimate influence will probably be not unhealth- 
ful. Typical recent examples of this tendency are Thomas 
Hardy's "Tess of the d'Urbervilles," George Meredith's 
"The Egoist/' and George Gissing's "The Unclassed." 
See, in exposition and defense of the movement, HowehVs 
"Criticism and Fiction." Already, a decided reaction 
is to be noted — especially in America — from Realism to- 
wards Historical Romanticism. 

Consult on British Fiction, besides the books to which specific 
reference has been made, Cross's " Development of the English 
Novel;" Simonds's " Introduction to English Fiction;" Raleigh's 
"English Novel;" Besant and James's "Art of Fiction;" F. Marion 
Crawford's "The Novel; what is it?" Moulton's "Four Years of 
Novel Reading;" Masson's "Recent British Novelists;" Scott's 
"Lives of the Novelists;" Forsyth's "Novels and Novelists of the 
Eighteenth Century;" Sidney Lanier's "The English Novel;" 
Leslie Stephen's "Hours in a Library" (on De Foe, Richardson and 
Scott); Gosse's "Eighteenth Century Literature;" Fields's "Yester- 
days with Authors " (on Thackeray and Dickens) . 

The following tabular view of the most prominent British 
novelists, following the line of development, includes 
some names and titles to which reference has not previously 
been made, and will be useful as a reading list. The stu- 
dent should read the one best novel of the authors who 
have made, or seem to be making, a permanent reputation 
instead of surrendering himself to the trashy books that 
are the sensation of the hour. He should learn also: 

HOW TO TEST A NOVEL. 

1. With reference to plot — both in its general scope 
and in the artistic skill with which it is developed. 

2. With reference to characterization, or the fidelity 
with which it delineates: (1) the superficial traits, 
(2) the essential attributes, of the men and women whom 
it introduces. 

Ill 



3. With reference to its incidental sketches of the scenery, 
life and manners (1) of the present day; (2) of some period 
in the past. 

4. With reference to its elucidation of important prob- 
lems, whether (1) moral, (2) social, (3) political. 

5. With reference to its style, which should be; (1) nat- 
ural, (2) vivacious, (3) thoroughly consonant with the 
character of the work. 

6. With reference to the general nobility, whether moral 
or aesthetic, of the author's purpose, and the degree to 
which he has attained the end proposed. 

Bliss Perry's "Study of Prose Fiction " will be very 
suggestive with reference to this subject. Every student 
of English Literature should read it. 



113 



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XV. THE RECENT PERIOD IN ENGLISH 
LITERATURE. 



The French Revolution of 1789 emancipated England 
from that subservience to French literary models which 
had so long prevailed; but that revolution was largely 
due to the growth of a humanitarian and democratic spirit 
which has, during the recent period, done much to shape 
English literature. German influence has been increas- 
ingly felt during this period; but it is, distinctively, a 
"period of English popular influence." It may be sub- 
divided into : 

I. The Georgian Epoch — extending from the First French 
Revolution (1789), to the death of Scott and the passage 
of the Reform Bill (1832.) 

II. The Victorian Epoch — from the death of Scott (1832), 
to the death of Tennyson (1892.) 

The period, taken as a whole, has been characterized 
by vast and varied literary activity; but is constructive — 
or elaborative — rather than creative. Its most striking 
features are: 

1. The rise of the Romantic, as opposed to the Classical, 
School of Poetry. The school of poetry founded by Dry- 
den and Pope was rigidly bound by rules and precedents. 
With Cowper (1731-1800) and Burns (1759-1796), there 
was a reaction in favor of freedom and naturalness. But 
only with the publication of "The Lyrical Ballads" by 
Wordsworth and Coleridge (1798) did this movement — 
which stood for greater sympathy with man as man, and 
increased interest in nature as the environment of man — 
attract general attention. 

The Romantic (or the free, untrammelled, spontaneous) 
School of English poetry gave us, during the Georgian 
Epoch, the most distinguished group of poets that England 

119 



has ever seen — including Cowper and Burns; Words- 
worth and Coleridge; Southey, Scott and Campbell; Shel- 
ley and Keats; Byron and Moore. 

The student should make a pretty thorough study of 
Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats — whose rank is all but the 
very highest in English poetry — and will find the following 
books helpful: 

Herford's "Age of Wordsworth;" Legouis' "La Jeunesse de 
William Wordsworth;" Shairp's "Studies in Philosophy" and 
"Aspects of Poetry;" Masson's "Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats;" 
Lowell's "Literary Essays" (vol. I. on Keats; vol. IV. on Words- 
worth) . 

During the Victorian Epoch it has given us two great 
poets — Tennyson and Browning — and such inferior, but 
by no means insignificant, writers of poetry as Elizabeth 
Barrett Browning, William Morris, Matthew Arnold, 
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, and 
Stephen Phillips, See Stedman's " Victorian Anthology" 
for other names. 

There has been a disposition to subdivide these poets 
of the Romantic School into subjective poets, typified 
by Wordsworth; and objective poets, typified by Scott. 
It is better, however, to classify all poetry as the poetry 
of thought (e. g. Wordsworth), the poetry of feeling (e. g. 
Byron), and the poetry of action (e. g. Scott.) 

2. A second feature of the recent period is the marvel- 
ous development of periodical literature) which has given 
rise to a new type of literary composition, the essay or 
review, in which such authors as Sydney Smith, De Quin- 
cey, Carlyle, Macaulay, Ruskin, Philip Gilbert Hamerton, 
Gladstone, John Henry Newman-, Matthew Arnold, Richard 
Henry Hutton, John Morley, Augustine Birrell and Walter 
Pater have attained distinction. 

The first five names in the list just given may be re- 
garded as having achieved a permanent place in English 

121 



prose literature; and the works of these authors deserve 

careful study. 

The student will do well to consult Guernsey's "Maeaulay" and 
"Carlyle" in the Appletons' series of " Brief Biographies;" Stirl- 
ing's "Jerrold, Tennyson, Macaulay and other essays;" Peter 
Bayne's "Lessons from my Masters;" Mrs. Maynel's "John Rus- 
kin." See also, Gates's selections from Arnold and Newman, pub- 
lished by Henry Holt & Co. 

3. The development of new types of fiction; and the per- 
fection of the English novel by Jane Austen, Scott, Dickens, 
Thackeray and George Eliot. 

4. The degree of attention paid to historical studies. 
which have been characterized by vivid historical imag- 
ination and profound research. We have now three parti- 
san histories of England, Hume's (from 55 B. C. to 1688 
A. D.) written from a Tory stand-point. A vindication of 
the House of Stuart. Macaulay's (1685-1702) written 
from a Whig stand-point. Brilliant but tinged with par- 
tisan prejudice. A glorification of the House of Bruns- 
wick. Froude's (1529-1603) the work of a special-pleader. 
An apology for the House of Tudor. Among the most 
eminent of recent English historians, are: 

Hallam, Lingarcl, Green, Freeman, Stubbs, Gardiner, 
Carlyle, Arnold, Dean Stanley, Buckle, Merivale, Justin 
McCarthy, James Bryce. 

5. The successful study of science. The most eminent 
names are: 

(1) In Mental and Moral Science: Dugald Stewart, Cole- 
ridge, Whately, Hamilton, Bain, Lecky, Lewes, Herbert 
Spencer. 

(2) In the Natural Sciences: Brewster, Whewell, Her- 
schell, Davy, Dalton, Lyell, Faraday, Darwin, Huxley, 
Tyndall. 

(3) In Anthropology: Sir John Lubbock, E. B. Tylor. 

(4) In Ethnology: Wilkinson, Prichard. 

123 



(5) In Philology: Latham, Garnett, Max Miiller, Sweet. 

(6) In Political Science: J. S. Mill, Jevons, Bagehot, 
Austin, Amos, Maine. 

6. The literary "prominence attained by women. E. G. : 

(1) In Poetry: Mrs. Browning, Jean Ingelow. 

(2) In Fiction: Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George 
Eliot, Mrs. Muloch-Craik, Mrs. Humphrey Ward. 

(3) In Biography: Lady Holland, Mrs. Oliphant. 

(4) In Science: Mary Somerville, Mrs. Fawcett. 

(5) In Belles Lettres: Harriet Martineau, Mrs. Jameson. 

7. The religious and humanitarian literature of our day. 
Representative names are: 

(1) As preachers: Robert Hall, Thomas Guthrie, Charles 
H. Spurgeon, Frederick W. Robertson, Canon Liddon, 
Alexander Maclaren. 

(2) In~ Theology: Chalmers, Mansel, Mozley, James 
Martineau, John Henry Newman. 

(3) In Biblical Literature: Tregelles, Alford, Ellicott, 
Lightfoot, Perowne, Driver. 

The humanitarian tendencies of the recent period — in- 
deed, its general characteristics — are well exemplified by 
a single man, Charles Kingsley. 

Consult on the period: Saintsbury's "Nineteenth Century 
Literature;" Walker's "Age of Tennyson;" Mrs. Oliphant's " Liter- 
ary History of England;" Henry Morley: Vol. 2,000 in the Tauch- 
nitz Library; Stedman's "Victorian Poets;" Devey's "Compara- 
tive Estimate of Modern British Poets;" Brooke's "Theology in the 
English Poets;" Whipple's "Essays and Reviews;" Justin Mc- 
Carthy's "Modern Leaders;" Hutton's "Essays in Literary Criti- 
cism;" the "English Men of Letters" series; the "Great Writers" 
series 



125 



XVI. ALFRED TENNYSON. 



Alfred Tennyson, son of the Rev. Geo. Clayton Tennyson, 
LL.D., Rector of Somersby, Lincolnshire, was born Aug. 
6, 1809. His "Ocle to Memory" throws light on the sur- 
roundings of his childhood. "In Memoriam," lxxxix, 
gives a picture of his home life. See " In Tennyson Land;" 
and Van Dyke's "Poetry of Tennyson." 

His early education was at home and at the neighboring 
village of Louth. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, 
1828; but did not graduate. "In Memoriam," lxxxvi, 
illustrates the spirit ofiiis college life. He took the Chan- 
cellor's Medal, for a poem on Timbuctoo, 1829. "Poems 
by Two Brothers" (Charles and Alfred) had already ap- 
peared in 1827. His first acknowledged Volume of poems 1830 
(reviewed by "Crusty Christopher" in Blackwood^s Maga- 
zine, 1831), contains "Lilian," "Adeline" and "Mariana," 
which must be regarded as experiments in versification. 
The dynamic relation of landscape to figures (subsequently 
employed with great effect) is seen in the "Mariana." 
See Brimley's "Essays;" Steclman's "Victorian Poets." 

A second volume of poems, in 1832, including "The 
Miller's Daughter," "CEnone," "The Lotus Eaters," "The 
May Queen," marks Tennyson's development from the 
word-painter to the poet. A collected edition of poems, 2 
vols., 1842 ("Morte cl'Arthur," "Godiva," "The Two 
Voices," "Locksley Hall") assured Tennyson's position. 
"The Princess," (1847), his first long poem, was essentially 
idyllic, with a decided bearing on the vexed question of 
woman's rights. See Gladstone's "Gleanings." In this 
poem Tennyson gave evidence of his rare excellence as a 
song-writer. See Stedman, ut supra. 

"In Memoriam," published in 1850, was suggested by 
the death of his friend Hallam; yet is not the mere record 

127 



of a personal grief, but a great philosophic poem whose 
theme is Death and Eternity. A time-analysis is the only 
possible analysis of this poem. There are three Christ- 
mases in the poem (xxviii, lxxviii, civ.) Hence it delin- 
eates the grief of a speculative poet, familiar with the ques- 
tionings and doubts of the nineteenth century, deploring 
the loss of his clearest and most congenial friend through 
the two or three years following the death of that friend. 

See Genung's "In Memoriam;" Brother Azarias's 
"Phases of Thought and Criticism ;" Tainsh's "Study of 
Tennyson;" Miss E. R. Chapman's "Companion to In 
Memoriam." 

"Maud and other Poems" (1855), was slightingly 
estimated by the critics, but an especial favorite with its 
author, and characterized by exceptional fire and enthu- 
siasm. 

"The Idyls of the King" (Enid, Vivien, Elaine and 
Guinevere), 1859, is regarded by many critics as Tenny- 
son's masterpiece. The characterization is very fine; 
but the Idyls lack obvious coherence, and constitute no 
proper epic. See "Every Man his own Poet." 

"Enoch Arclen" (1864), a touching story, chastely and 
beautifully told, did not materially enhance the author's 
reputation. The same is true of "The Holy Grail" and 
"The Last Tournament" (which complete the "Idyls of 
the King"), and of Tennyson's dramas, with the exception 
of "Becket." "Ballads and other Poems" (1880), is very 
unequal in quality, but contains some admirable things. 
"Tiresias and other Poems" (1885), is less significant. 
"Locksley Hall sixty years after" (1887) is characterized 
by a pessimistic spirit that is utterly foreign to Tennyson, 
and many grave artistic defects. "Demeter and other 
Poems" (1889), a volume which shows marked traces of 

129 



Browning's influence, is better worthy of our author. 
"The Death of (Enone, Akbar's Dream, etc." (1892) was 
received with more general favor than anything that 
Tennyson had published since the first instalment of the 
"Idyls." 

Tennyson was Poet Laureate from 1850 till his death in 
1892. He accumulated a fortune by his pen; and was 
raised to the peerage in 1884. He was commonly regarded 
as the foremost English poet of his day; though his rank 
was* not unquestioned. He was charged with obscurity, 
with class-feeling, with mannerism; and is certainly 
deficient in psychologic insight, spontaneity and passion 
(not pathos). Must be credited, however, with: (1) Ex- 
quisite felicity of diction. (2) Sustained perfection of 
style. Contrast Wordsworth. (3) Freshness — if not or- 
iginality. (4) Variety— cf. "The Princess," "Maud," 
" Enoch Arden." (5) Rare lyric capacity. (6) Rare 
capacity for picturesque description. (7) Purity, earnest- 
ness and unaffected manliness. (8) Thorough sympathy 
with his age. 

Consult, in addition to the books to which specific reference has 
been given, Eugene Parsons's "Tennyson's Life and Poetry;" 
the Memoir by Hallam Tennyson ;Waugh's "Alfred, Lord Tennyson ;" 
"Review of Reviews" for December, 1892; "Nineteenth Century " 
for December, 1892 and January, February and March, 1893; 
Bayne's "Lessons from my Masters;" Sterling's "Essays;" Brooke's 
"Poetry of Tennyson" and "Poetry of Browning;" Webb's edition 
of "Aylmer's Field;" Walker's "Greater Victorian Poets." 



131 



XV [I. ROBERT BROWNING. 



Browning was born at London, May 7, 1812; and died 
at Venice, Dec. 12, 1889. His father was a man of literary 
taste and of somewhat ample means. The family were 
dissenters, and Browning was educated at London Uni- 
versity. 

Dramatic Poetry early claimed his attention. Among 
the more significant of his so-called dramas are: "Para- 
celsus," (1835); "Strafford," (acted 1837); "Pippa Pas- 
ses," (1841); "A Blot on the Scutcheon," (1843), and 
"Luria," (1846). The first third and fifth are especially 
worthy of attention. 

"Sordello," published in 1840, met w T ith a very unfavor- 
able reception. Its theme, ("the development of a poet's 
mind,") is attractive, but the obscurity of the poem is 
dense. "A poem written by an immature dramatist who 
has strayed into narrative poetry by mistake." See Miss 
Wall's "Sordello's Story;" and Holland's "Stories from 
Browning." 

"Bells and Pomegranates" — a popular reprint of pre- 
vious works, with very considerable additions — was pub- 
lished in eight parts, 1841-6. Browning's "Dramatic 
Lyrics" (included in this series) is worthy of the highest 
praise. 

Sept. 12, 1846, Robert Browning married Elizabeth 
Barrett, herself a poet of rare genius; but a confirmed 
invalid. Till her death, which occurred in 1861, they made 
their home in Italy. See "Letters of Robert and Eliza- 
beth Barrett Browning." 

The works immediately following Browning's marriage 
are those on which his reputation will ultimately rest. 
They are, "Men and Women," (1856); "Dramatis Per- 
sona?," (1864); "The Ring and the Book," (1868), The 

133 



knowledge of human nature, and stereoscopic veri-simili- 
tude of this poem are marvelous. 

Seventeen volumes appeared after Browning's master- 
piece, of w T hich the most significant are: "Prince Hohen- 
stiel-Schwangau/' (1871); "Pacchiarotto," (1876); "La 
Saisiaz," (1878); "Dramatic Idyls," (1879-80); "Joco- 
seria/' (1883); "Asolando," (1889). 

Apparatus for the study of Browning : The Camberwell edition; 
the poet's own " Selections, " from his works, (reprinted by T. Y. 
Crowell); Arthur Symons's "Introduction to Browning; 7 ' Alex- 
ander's "Introduction to Browning" (published by Ginn & Co.), 
an especially significant work. 

The distinguishing characteristic of poetry, according 
to Browning himself, is, superior insight into man or nature. 
This characteristic he possessed to a remarkable degree, 
and we must regard him as: 

1. Only second to Shakspere in psychologic insight. 
His analysis of character and motive is excessively minute, 
but singularly effective. See "My Last Duchess/' "The 
Soliloquy of a Spanish Cloister," which evince rare dram- 
atic faculty. 

2. He gives us occasional pictures of the natural world 
which evince great power. 

3. He possesses also rare lyrical capacity; but his lyrics 
are properly called "dramatic lyrics/' as they do not give 
expression to his own emotion. See his "Cavalier Tunes." 

4. He is a vigorous and acute thinker on all those themes 
which especially attract modern- thought, and yet a poet 
of deep and tender feeling. 

5. He must be regarded as a great religious poet, although 
he refused to be bound by the trammels of a rigid ortho- 
doxy. See his "Saul," "Karshish," "Abt Vogler/' "Rabbi 
ben Ezra." 

Over against these excellences, we must set the follow- 
ing obvious defects: 

135 



1. His style is often (though by no means always) harsh 
and crabbed. 

2. He is by no means an easy poet to understand; his 
obscurity being caused by: (1) his frequent and vicious 
ellipses; (2) his profundity of thought and wealth of knowl- 
edge; (3) his incapacity for amplification; (4) his ten- 
dency to plunge us into the midst of a story , or confront 
us with a partially developed character. 

His obscurity has been greatly over-rated; but it must 
be conceded that he is not a great literary artist in the 
Tennysonian sense. Robert Browning is, like Words- 
worth, the harbinger of a new school. He is to poetry what 
Richard Wagner is to music — an iconoclast, an innovator; 
but he is coming to be regarded as a true seer. "The 
Poetry of the Future" will be immensely indebted to him, 
as is seen by his influence over Tennyson, (cf. Tennyson's 
"Romney's Remorse," "By an Evolutionist," "Parnas- 
sus," "The Silent Voices," etc.). He never can become 
a popular poet; but some of us are immensely indebted 
to him for inspiration — uplift — outlook. 

Consult on Browning (in addition to the books already named) : 
Mrs. Orr's " Handbook to Robert Browning's Works;" Miss Burt's 
" Browning's Women;" Gosse's ''Personalia" (of which the most 
significant portion is contained in "The Century " for December, 
1881); Sharp's "Life of Browning;" Stedman's "Victorian Poets;" 
"Obiter Dicta;" Fotheringham's "Studies in the Poetry of Robert 
Browning;" Dowden's ''Studies in Literature;" John Morley's 
"Studies in Literature;" "The North American Review," Vol. 66 
(by Lowell); "The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 51, p. 243; "LitteU's 
Living Age" for July 29, 1882; Mrs. Orr's "Browning's Life and 
Letters;" Nettleship's "Essays on Browning;" Besant and Rice's 
"Golden Butterfly;" Berdoe's "Browning Encyclopaedia" and 
"Browning's Message to his Time;" Trigg's "Browning and Whit- 
man;" Brooke's "Poetry of Browning;" Jones's "Browning as a 
Philosophical and Religious Teacher;" Bagehot's "Literary Studies" 
Vol. 2. 



137 



XVIII. A GENERAL SURVEY OF AMERICAN 
LITERATURE. 



I. During the Colonial Period (1607-1765) ; our lit- 
erature was naturally scanty. 

See Coffin's "Old Times in the Colonies," Higginson's "Young 
Folk's History of the United States" and Mrs. Earle's "Sunday 
in Puritan New England." 

In the New England colonies there was, however, con- 
siderable literary activity; though of a devout and prac- 
tical type. The southern colonies — intent on building 
up great landed estates, tilled by slave labor — produced 
few books of any sort. See Tyler's " History of American 
Literature/' 

Two authors of the Colonial Period still influence the 

world's thought. Roger Williams, the sturdy opponent 

of any union between the church and the state; and 

Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the most vigorous and acute 

metaphysician of his day. 

Other names, emphasized by Prof. Tyler, are, Daniel Gookin, 
"Historical Collections;" William Wood, "New England's Pros- 
pect;" Nathaniel Ward, "The Simple Cobbler of Agawam;" John 
Wise, "The Churches' Quarrel Espoused;" Nathaniel Ames, "As- 
tronomical Diary and Almanac;" Ebenezer Cook (Md.), "The 
Sot Weed Factor;" William Byrd (Va.), "History of the Dividing 
Line;" Cadwallader Colden (N. Y.), "History of the Five Nations." 

II. During the Revolutionary Period (1765-1815), 
there was more literary activity; but it was pretty much 
all of a controversial character and of ephemeral interest. 
The period has bequeathed to us two great names: Benja- 
min Franklin — whose " Autobiography" and "Poor Rich- 
ard's Almanac" (see "Riverside Literature Series") are 
the first American works of permanent literary significance ; 
and Alexander Hamilton — whose contributions to "The 
Federalist" made that work a political classic. See 
Painter's "Introduction to American Literature, p. 63. 

139 



III. During the Period of National Consolidation 
(1815-1865) our literature became more copious and varied; 
but did not seem to European critics — who exaggerated 
the influence of environment and minimized that of hered- 
ity — as distinctively American as it should be. The con- 
ditions of existence in a new country which inherits a 
fully formed language, a rich and varied literature, are 
all unfavorable to originality. And the development 
of a distinctively American literature was hindered by 
the system of literary pilfering which sprang up in the 
absence of an international copyright, law. 

The foundations of such a literature were, however, 
laid, along three different lines, early in the nineteenth 
century, and in the state of New York. 

1. In Belles Lettres, by Washington Irving (see Section 
XX), the precursor of Lowell, Thoreau, Holmes and Emer- 
son. 

2. In Poetry, by William Cullen Bryant (see SectionXXI) 
of whom Longfellow and Whittier, Emerson and Lowell 
proved worthy successors. 

3. In Prose Fiction, by James Fenimore Cooper (see 
Section XX), whose immense reputation has since been 
equalled, if not surpassed, by that of Nathaniel Haw- 
thorne and Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

Later in the period, such writers as Prescott, Motley 
and Parkman achieved world-wide reputation in the de- 
partment of History (see article on American Literature 
in " Encyclopaedia Britannica") ; while the reputation 
of American Oratory — conspicuous even in the Revolu- 
tionary Period — was enhanced by Webster, Clay and 
Calhoun; Everett, Choate and Sumner; Phillips, Beecher 
and Curtis. 



141 



For dates, and typical works, with reference to the 

authors named in this section (many of whom will 

be subsequently characterized more minutely), see the 

syllabus at the close of this volume. 

Consult on American Literature in general: Tyler's " History of 
American Literature;" Allibone's " Dictionary of Authors;" Whit- 
comb's "Chronological Outlines of American Literature;" O. F. 
Adams's " Dictionary of American Authors;" Richardson's " Ameri- 
can Literature;" Lowell's "Fable for Critics;" The American 
Men of Letters series of biographies; Appleton's "Cyclopaedia of 
American Biography;" article on American Literature in "The 
Encyclopaedia Britannica" (by Prof. Nichol.); article on American 
Literature in "The North American Review" for 1876 (by -E. P. 
Whipple); Stedman's "Poets of America;" Simonds's "American 
Song;" Higginson's "The New World and the New Book;" Pattee's 
Reading Courses in American Authors;" Mitchell's "American 
Lands and Letters;" Barrett Wendell's "Literary History of 
America;" Vedder's "American Writers of To-day;" Howells's 
"Literary Friends and Acquaintances;" Lawton's "New England 
Poets." 

For illustrative specimens, see Stedman and Hutchinson's "Lib- 
rary of American Authors;" Trent and Wells's "Colonial Prose and 
Poetry;" the "Riverside Literature Series;" Underwood's "Hand- 
book of American Authors;" ' ' Masterpieces of American Literature ' ' 
(Houghton Mifflin & Co.); Carpenter's "American Prose." 

Brander Matthews' s "Introduction to American Literature" is 
an excellent brief compend. For something more substantial and 
comprehensive, see Pattee's "History of American Literature." 



143 



XIX. OUR COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY 
POETRY. 



There was but little poetry produced in America dur- 
ing the Colonial Period; and that little was wretchedly 
poor — a lifeless imitation of inferior British models. 
Among the names and titles that are still remembered are; 

George Sandys of Virginia, who published, in 1626, a 
translation of portions of Ovid's " Metamorphoses." 

"The Bay Psalm Booh 1 ' (Cambridge, Mass., 1640), 
which w r as the first book printed in America. 

Matthew Byles, of Massachusetts (1706-1788), whose 
"Hymn written during a Voyage" was shrewdly satirized 
by a brother clergyman, Joseph Green (1706-1780.) 

Ebenezer Cook, of Maryland, whose "Sot- Weed Factor" 
is a coarse, but vigorous, satire. 

Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), daughter of one govenor 
of Massachusetts, wife of another, and mother of a third — 
and numbering among her descendants Channing, R. H. 
Dana, Wendell Phillips and Holmes — received in her day 
the flattering title of "the tenth muse." But her rhymed 
morality is today fearfully unattractive, though her ^ Con- 
templations" show traces of Spenser's influence. 

Michael Wigglesworth, of Massachusetts (1631-1705), 
author of a terrible poem entitled "The Day of Doom/' 
which w r as immensely popular with our Puritan ancestors. 

The Revolutionary Period was more fruitful in poetry, 
which was inspired by fervid patriotism of a somewhat 
bumptious and self-assertive type. 

u The Battle of the Kegs," however, by Francis Hopkinson 
(Penn, 1737-N. J. 1791), still strikes us as spirited and 
effective. 

John Trumbull of Connecticut (1750-1831), in his 
"MTingal" — written in imitation of Butler's "Hudibras" 

145 



— gave vigorous expression to the contempt which patri- 
otic Yankees felt for those who, during our struggle for 
independence, sympathized with the mother country. 
The poem was reprinted by the American Book Exchange 
in 1881. 

Joel Barlow, of Connecticut (1734-1812), expected to 
achieve immortality by his ponderous epic entitled "The 
Columbiad;" but that poem is deservedly ignored, while 
his mock-heroic "Hasty-Pudding" still finds readers. 
The poem is reprinted in Harper's Monthly, Vol. XIII. 

Timothy Dwight (Mass. 1752, Conn. 1817), wrote "The 
Conquest of Canaan" and "Greenfield Hill," which were 
once greatly admired; but the only poem of his that fives 
is the hymn beginning "I love thy kingdom, Lord." 

Philip Freneau (N. Y. 1752-N. J. 1832), seems to me 
by far the most considerable of this group of versifiers. 
Indeed, when at his best (as in his "Wild Honeysuckle," 
or "To a Honey Bee"), he may fairly claim the name of 
poet. As his name indicates, he was not of Puritan stock. 

See Pancoast's " American Literature/' p. 107; "Life and Times 
of Freneau;" " Poems of Philip Freneau." 

As a rule, the poetasters of this period evince no insight 
into man — no sympathy with nature; and, though they 
persist in singing, utterly lack the lyrical touch. This 
was partly due to the prosaic character of the Puritan 
mind; but, in greater measure, to the trammels imposed 
on English poetry by the school of Dryden and Pope — against 
which Richard H. Dana and William Cullen Bryant were 
soon to revolt in America, as Wordsworth did in England. 
See an article by Dana on Hazlitt's "Lectures on the Eng- 
lish Poets," in the North American Review for March, 1819. 

For illustrative specimens of the poetry of the period, see Sted- 
man and Hutchinson's "Library of American Authors," Kettell's 

147 



"Specimens of American Poetry" (out of print); "Golden Leaves 
from the American Poets" (Routledge, $1.00); Griswold's "Poets 
and Poetry of America;" Trent and Wells's "Colonial Prose and 
Poetry." 



149 



XX. THE BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN PROSE 
FICTION. 



Of literature, in any proper sense of the term, there 
was none produced in America during the colonial and 
revolutionary periods — the only possible exception being 
the "Autobiography" of Franklin and "The Federalist" 
of Hamilton. A distinctively American prose literature 
began with Washington Irving. 

Previous to Irving, however, we must recognize Charles 
Brockden Brown, who was born in Philadelphia, 1771, 
and attained some measure of foreign reputation by his 
weird and sensational novels — of which " Arthur Mervyn " 
(1799-1800) is decidedly the best. See Mitchell's "Ameri- 
can Lands and Letters," pp. 179-190. 

Washington Irving was born in New York, April 3, 1783. 
His education was scanty, and terminated at the age of 
16; after which he lived for a time an idle life, devoted 
largely to social enjoyment. To counteract consumptive 
tendencies, he went abroad in 1804. Returning in 1808, 
he was admitted to the bar; but never devoted himself 
to legal practice. In 1807, he published — in conjunction 
with his brother Peter and their friend Paulding — "Sal- 
magundi," a semi-weekly periodical in imitation of the 
"Tatler" and "Spectator." In 1809, he published "Die- 
drich Knickerbocker's History of New York," which estab- 
lished his reputation as a genial humorist. While engaged 
on this work he met with an affliction which embittered 
his entire life, in the death of Matilda Hoffman to whom 
he was betrothed. 

In 1815, Irving went to England to aid in retrieving 
the fortunes of the cutlery firm of Irving Brothers, of 
which he was nominally a member. The failure of the 
firm in 1818 gave him leisure and incentive for literary 

151 



activity; and in 1819 he published his " Sketch Book," 
which was received with the utmost favor both in England 
and America. " Bracebridge Hall" (1822) and " Tales 
of a Traveller" (1824) were similar in scope; but of in- 
ferior significance. 

A residence in Spain, from 1826 to 1829, furnished Irving 
with new material; and led to the publication of his "Life 
of Columbus" (1828), "The Conquest of Granada" (1829), 
and "The Alhambra" (18320 

Form 1829 to 1831, Irving was Secretary of Legation 
at London. In 1832, he returned to America; and, after 
an extended western trip which is described in his "Crayon 
Miscellany 1 '' (1835), settled down at Sunnyside on the 
banks of the Hudson. See Mitchell's "American Lands 
and Letters." 

From 1842 to 1846, Irving was Minister to Spain, dis- 
charging the difficult duties of his position with conspic- 
uous success. From 1846 till Nov. 28, 1859, the date 
of his death, he devoted himself to biographical work, 
giving us a charming "Life of Goldsmith" (1849), a "Life 
of Mahomet" (1849), which evinces less grasp of his sub- 
ject, and a "Life of Washington" (1855-1859), which 
was an advance, in correctness of apprehension and careful 
collaboration of material, upon any previous treatment 
of his theme. 

Irving was the first American to attain eminence in the 
domain of pure literature — the first to achieve substantial 
literary reputation abroad. But it may be questioned 
whether he would have ranked so high had he not been 
first; and also whether he was distinctively American 
in nature and training, and in the literary output that 
was their result. His reputation rests today on those 
stories which have thrown around the Hudson the glamour 

153 



of romance and "made New York a Knickerbocker city." 
His genial personality, his unaffected manliness, his ten- 
der sympathy, his delicate humor, his faultless style (see 
Lowell's "Fable for Critics") should, and we trust will, 
endear him to future generations. 

Meanwhile, he must be recognized as the progenitor of 
"the American short story" — a type of literature in which 
our countrymen have especially excelled. . And in this 
direction he was immediately followed by Richard H. 
Dana, Sr., (1707-1879), whose "Paul Felton" is a veri- 
table prose Lear. 

James Fenimore Cooper, the first American to attain 
success in extended prose fiction, was born at Burlington, 
N. J., Sept. 15, 1789; but his family soon removed to the 
shores of Otsego Lake in the state of New York, where, 
on the outskirts of civilization, the future novelist became 
familiar with the wild life he was afterwards to describe. 
At the age of 13, Cooper entered Yale College; but was 
dismissed during his Junior year for some boyish prank. 
In 1805, he was sent to sea as a common sailor; in 1808, 
he was appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy 
— thus becoming familiar with other scenes that were to 
afford material for his pen. 

Cooper's first novel, "Precaution" (1820), was a dismal 
failure; as it dealt with English social life in aristocratic 
circles, of which he was utterly ignorant. "The Spy" 
(1821), was a thoroughly American story, in scenery, char- 
acter and incident; and was hailed with delight on both 
sides of the Atlantic. 

During the next nine years Cooper published nine more 
novels, including three of his famous u Leather Stocking 
Tales'' among them "The Last of the Mohicans;" and 
three of the best of his sea-stories — "The Pilot." "The 
Red Rover" and "The Water Witch." 



155 



From 1826 to 1832, Cooper was in Europe, spending 
most of his time in France and Italy; and developing 
an intense animosity for England on account of her ig- 
norance of, and contempt for ; everything American. 

On his return from abroad, he took to reading his 
countrymen lectures on what they should do and be; 
and was soon embroiled in bitter controversies with the 
nation at large and the people of Cooperstown in particu- 
lar. During this period, — which extended from 1830 to 
1840 — his stories were made the vehicle of his personal 
animosities, and are of slight value or interest. 

Between that period and his death, which occurred 
Sept. 14, 1851, Cooper published no less than 17 novels, 
only two of which — " The Pathfinder," 1840; and "The 
Deerslayer" 1841 — materially enhanced his reputation. 

Cooper's novels are, professedly, novels of incident — or 
"stories of adventure/' As such they achieved a won- 
derful popularity, which they still retain abroad. He has 
created one character, however, and that character dis- 
tinctively American, which will live as long as prose fiction 
endures. In other respects — both as a man and a writer — 
Cooper may be unfavorably contrasted with Irving; but 
here he is decidedly superior. 

Consult on Irving: Pierre M. Irving's life; Warner's life; Geo. 
Wm. Curtis's "Literary and Social Essays;" on Cooper: Louns- 
bury's life; Brander Matthews's "Americanisms and Briticisms;" 
Lowell's "Fable for Critics;" Thackeray's "Roundabout Papers;" 
Pancoast's "Introduction to American Literature." 



157 



XXI. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



The founder of a typical school of American poetry was 
born at Cummington, Mass., Nov. 4, 1794. His father was 
a physician, and a man of culture and refinement. For a 
year or more, Bryant was at Williams College. Then he 
studied law, and gave promise of eminence at the bar. 

Abandoning law for journalism, he went to New York; 
and, in 1826, became connected with "The Evening Post," 
on which paper his serious work was done — poetry being 
the recreation of his leisure hours. He came to be re- 
garded as the representative citizen of our great commer- 
cial metropolis; and died there, full of years and honors, 
June 12, 1878. See his poem, entitled "June." 

His claims to consideration are: 

1. That he was the first American to organize an effec- 
tive revolt against "the conventional school" of Eng- 
lish poetry. Hence, he may be called " The Father of Amer- 
ican Poetry" Contrast his "Embargo," written at 13, and 
his "Thanatopsis," written at 18. The marvelous change 
in Bryant's manner was due partly to Wordsworth's in- 
fluence ; but he never imitated Wordsworth, as he had done 
Pope. 

2. Bryant not only developed an original style, but a 
thoroughly good style. He is unequalled among our poets 
for dignity and weight of expression. Occasionally he 
reminds us of Milton. His blank verse is especially good. 
See his "Noon." 

3. The most characteristic excellence of Bryant's poetry 
was his sympathy with nature; and with nature as he saw 
her — not as he read about her in English books. See 
his "Blue Fringed Gentian," "To a Waterfowl," "Plant- 
ing of the Apple-tree," "Robert of Lincoln,"' "Death of 
the Flowers." He was the first poet to describe, in re- 

159 



alistic terms, American sights and sounds; and all sub- 
sequent American poets have been immensely indebted to 
him here. 

Over against these acknowledged excellences, we must 
set certain obvious defects. 

1. Bryant lacks fire and enthusiasm. See Lowell's 
"Fable for Critics. " 

2. His poetry is little more than elevated and dignified 
prose. 

3. He was lacking in poetic growth — perhaps, owing to 
his absorption in journalism. "Thanatopsis," written at 
the age of 18, is commonly regarded as his best poem; 
though some of his latest poems — e. g. " Sella " and "The 
Little People of the Snow" — which show traces of Tenny- 
son's influence, evince a livelier play of fancy. Perhaps 
the lines "To a Waterfowl" best typify his genius. See 
Sherman's "Analytics of Literature," p. 218. 

Consult Parke Godwin's biography; Wilson's " Bryant and his 
Friends;" " Homes of American Authors" (Geo. Wm. Curtis); 
"In memory of William Cullen Bryant," published by the New 
York Evening Post after his death; Symington's "William Cullen 
Bryant;" Alden's "Studies in Bryant;" Mitchell's "American 
Lands and Letters;" Wm. R. Thayer's "The Throne Makers." 

See, also, Bryant's autobiographic poems: "O fairest of the rural 
maids" (1825), "The Future Life" (1837), "The Life that is" 
(1858), "October, 1866," and especially, "A Lifetime." 

Pattee's "Reading Courses in American Literature" will be espec- 
ially useful on the American poets. 



161 



XXII. JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 



In popular estimation, the three foremost American poets 
are Bryant, Longfellow and Whittier. John Greenleaf 
Whittier — the third of this illustrious trio — was born at 
Haverhill, Mass., Dec. 17, 1807. He was the son of a 
Quaker farmer, and enjoyed but meagre educational advan- 
tages. He became intensely interested in the Anti-slavery 
movement, and was editorially connected with various 
papers which championed the cause of the slave. His 
poetry was written for freedom rather than for fame (see 
his "Tent on the Beach"), and was one of the most potent 
influences in promoting emancipation, to which he delib- 
erately sacrificed his aesthetic impulses and aspirations. 
He died at Hampton Falls, N. H., Sept, 7, 1892. ' 

1. Whittier was preeminently a poet of humanitarian 
spirit. Unlike some of our northern poets, he threw his 
who^e soul into his anti-slavery poems. But many of 
these were prompted by some special occasion, and are 
likely to perish now that their motive no longer appeals 
to the popular heart. E. G. "The Man with the branded 
Hand/ 7 "Le Marais du Cygne," "Ichahod," and even 
"Barbara Frietchie." 

2. In rapidly seizing an occasion and voicing the pas- 
sion of his countrymen, Whittier secured fire and enthu- 
siasm; but by the frequent sacrifice of artistic finish, for 
the lack of which he has been severely criticized. 

3. Whittier was a poet of the feelings, rather than the 
intellect, See his "St. John de Matha," "The Sisters," 
"Gone." 

4. He was a lover of nature; but lacked Wordsworth's 
subtle insight and Bryant's sympathy. See his poems on 
the Merrimac. 

163 



5. He surpassed Bryant — and, indeed, all our other poets 
except Whitman — in his intense Americanism. See " Skip- 
per Ireson's Ride/' "How the Women came to Dover/' 
the prelude to "Among the Hills/' and "Snowbound." 

6. Whittier's poetry was, as he ripened and matured, 
characterized by an increasing tenderness and sweetness 
which seems to some excessive, and has been criticized 
on theological grounds, but is in grateful contrast with 
the harshness and acerbity of his youth. See some pass- 
ages in "The Tent on the Beach" and "The Eternal Good- 
ness" — with which, however, compare "The Answer." 

From a literary standpoint, the permanence of Whittier's 
reputation is not beyond question; but his fame as a stal- 
wart, self-sacrificing and successful champion of human 
rights is assured. See J. T. Trowbridge's "Barefoot Boy." 

Consult Pickard's "Life and Letters;" Kennedy's "Life of 
Whittier;" Mrs. Claflin's "'Personal Recollections of Whittier;" 
P. H. Stoddard in "Poets' Homes" and "Scribner's Monthly" for 
August, 1879; Stedman's "Poets of America;" Mrs. Dall's "Bar- 
bara Frietchie;" Miss Bates's "American Literature." 



165 



XXIII. HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. 



I. His Life. 

Longfellow was born at Portland, Maine, Feb. 27, 1817. 
His father was a graduate of Harvard, and had represented 
his district in Congress. On his mother's side, he could 
claim descent from four of the pilgrims who came over in 
the Mayflower, including Elder Brewster and John Alden. 

He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1825, being a 
classmate of Nathaniel Hawthorne. From 1829 to 1835, 
he was professor of modern languages at Bowdoin. From 
1835 to 1854, he held a similar professorship at Harvard. 
Thenceforward till his death — which occurred March. 24, 
1882 and touched more hearts, and touched those hearts 
more deeply, than that of any other man of letters — he 
lived a life of literary leisure, attaining immense popularity 
at home and abroad. 

II. His principal works are: 

"Outre-Mer, a Pilgrimage beyond the Sea" (1835); and 
" Hyperion, a Romance" (1839), prose poems evincing the 
influence of Richter. 

" The Voices of the Night" (1839), which was perhaps the 
most popular volume of poems ever published in America ; 
though recent critics pronounce it tame and common-place. 
"Ballads and Other Poems" (1841), which included the 
severely criticized " Excelsior." 

"Evangeline" (1847), was Longfellow's first long poem 
and has proved a general favorite, although the dactylic 
hexameter in which it is written does not lend itself readily 
to English use. Its local color is perfect, although it is 
the outcome of fireside travel and imagination. 

"Hiawatha" (1855), in which Longfellow throws ma- 
terial borrowed from Schoolcraft's "Indian Legends" 

167 



into a metrical form derived from obvious Scandinavian 
sources, has proved the most popular of his longer poems, 
and some competent critics would pronounce it the best. 
See C. F. Johnson's " Three Americans and three Eng- 
lishmen." 

In "Tales of a Wayside Inn" (1863), we have such pop- 
ular favorites as "Paul Revere's Ride" and "The Birds 
of Killingworth," which are more distinctively Long- 
fellow's own than many of his other poems. 

Longfellow's Translation of Dante (1867), is unexampled 
for its fidelity to the original, and materially enhanced its 
author's fame. 

"Christus" (1851-1872), including "The Divine Tra- 
gedy," "The Golden Legend" and "The New England 
Tragedies," deals with Christianity of the primitive, me- 
diaeval and puritanic types ; and is regarded by De Quincey 
and Geo. Wm. Curtis as the poet's masterpiece. 

III. His rank as a poet. 

In estimating Longfellow, we must concede his lack 
of originality, "The Building of the Ship," for instance, 
was obviously suggested by Schiller's "Song of the Bell." 
He was no plagiarist, but his was not a great creative mind. 

Though frequently dealing with American themes, he 
was the least American of all our poets. He possessed 
a largeness of view — a catholicity of spirit — which ren- 
dered his poetry widely acceptable. 

He possessed more artistic skill than any other Amer- 
ican poet — perhaps more than any English poet — of our 
day. Tennyson is the only possible exception. 

In passion, Longfellow is deficient; but he excels in 
pathos, though many modern critics regard him as too 
much inclined to preach. 

169 



The most striking characteristic of his genius is that 

adjustment to the merited, moved and aesthetic sense of the 

intelligent middle class which made him preeminently the 

poet of the home both here and in England. He lacks 

Shakspere's insight into man — Wordsworth's insight into 

nature ; but these very limitations of his genius have made 

him popular and will ensure the permanence of his fame. 

Consult Robertson's Life, in the " Great Writers" series; Life and 
" Final Memorials," by his brother; Miss Hodgdon's " Longfellow 
Leaflets;" Charles F. Johnson's "Three Americans and Three 
Englishmen;" Poe's "Literati;" "The Fortnightly Review," Vol. 
39. Same article, "Living Age," Vol. 126; "Eclectic Mag." Vol. 
100; Andrew Lang's "Letters on Literature," p. 44 sq.; Whipple's 
Essays and Reviews;" Curtis's "Literary and Social Essays;" 
Lawton's "New England Poets." 



171 



XXIV. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 



Lowell was born at Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 22, 1819; 
and was fully identified with the literary aristocracy of New 
England. He graduated at Harvard in 1838, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1840. In 1841, he published "A 
Year's Life;" in 1844, "A Legend of Brittany." In 1848, 
he published another volume of poems, including "The 
Present Crisis;" also "The Vision of Sir Launfal;" the 
first series of " The Biglow Papers" (in the Yankee dialect) ; 
and (anonymously) "A Fable for Critics" — both of which 
afford capital illustration of his humorous vein. 

In 1855, Lowell was appointed Professor of Belles Lettres 
at Harvard College; and from 1857 to 1862 he was editor 
of the "Atlantic Monthly." At this time, he completed 
and published his second series of '"The Biglow Papers." 
He was editor of the "North American Review," from 
1863 to 1872. In 1869, Lowell published "Under the 
Willows" — w T hich illustrates his truthfulness to nature 
in describing an American spring; contains touching 
verses commemorative of the poet's wife; and, in the 
"Commemoration Ode" a masterly tribute to the memory 
.of Abraham Lincoln. 

Lowell's "Cathedral" (published in 1870) is his most 
pretentious work. The cathedral which Lowell intends 
in that poem is not the cathedral at Chartres; but the 
sphere in which man comes in contact with God and his 
fellow-men, .or the world-temple into which man is intro- 
duced at birth. The poem is worthy of high praise; but 
it is recondite and obscure — possibly a manufacture, rather 
than an inspiration. Its key-note is the line "Each age 
must worship its own thought of God." 

Upon the accession of Mr. Hayes to the presidency, 
Lowell was appointed minister to Spain, (1877-1880); 

173 



but was subsequently transferred to the Court of St. James, 
(1880-1885), where he became extremely popular. He 
died, Aug. 12, 1891. 

Lowell's prose writings evince rare critical acumen, 
and have been deservedly popular. His Birmingham ad- 
dress on Democracy, and his essay "On a certain Conde- 
scension in Foreigners/' every American should read. 

But it is as a poet that he especially claims attention. 
He ranks first of all American poets in humor, pathos and 
sympathy with nature; and is only second to Emerson in 
psychologic insight — to Bryant, in dignity — to Whittier, 
in fire and enthusiasm — to Longfellow, in exquisite ar- 
tistic finish. 

Unfortunately, however, Lowell is not always at his 

best, or anywhere near it; he did not grow poetically; 

poetry was the recreation of his leisure hours — not the 

work of his life. Hence he evinced a capacity to be our 

greatest poet, rather than became our greatest poet. 

Clearly, he was our foremost "Man of Letters." 

Consult: F. H. Underwood's " Biographical Sketch;" "Poets' 
Homes;" Horace E. Scudder's "Biography;" "The Literary 
World," June 27, 1885; "The Review of Reviews," October 1891; 
Wilkinson's "Free Lance in Literature and Letters;" "Atlantic 
Monthly," Vol. 69 CHenrv James); "New York Tribune," February 
23, 1892, (Geo Wm. Curtis); "The Chautauquan" for April, 1896 
(on "The Biglow Papers"); Lowell's Letters; "James Russell 
Lowell and his Friends " by Edward Everett Hale. 



175 



XXV. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 



I. The Man. Holmes was born at Cambridge, Mass., 
Aug. 29, 1809; and was, like Lowell, identified with the 
literary aristocracy of New England, numbering Anne 
Braclstreet among his ancestors. On his mother's side, 
he was related to the Dutch poet Vondel. He was at 
Phillips Andover Academy, 1824-5; and graduated at 
Harvard in 1829, having evinced, while an undergraduate, 
his poetic capacity. 

II. The Physician. On graduation, Holmes studied 
Law, and, while a law-student, wrote his famous "Old 
Ironsides. " Forsaking Law for Medicine, he completed 
his medical studies abroad in 1836, and achieved substan- 
tial success in his chosen calling, though his professional 
writings bristle with his prejudices and antipathies. He 
was Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Dartmouth, 
1838-40, at Harvard, 1847-82. He died— just one hun- 
dred years after the birth of Bryant — Oct. 7, 1892. 

III. The Novelist. All his novels have been character- 
ized as medicated. "Elsie Venner" (decidedly the best), 
was designed to test the doctrine of original sin. "The 
Guardian Angel" is a study in heredity. They mark a new 
departure in the development of New England realistic 
fiction. 

IV. The Poet. Here we encounter conflicting opinions- 
some assigning to Holmes high rank, while others regard 
his work as of inferior importance. We must note : 

(1) His Humorous Poems. E. G. "The Height of the 
Ridiculous," "Lines on Lending a Punch Bowl," n The 
Sweet Little Man," "The One Hoss Shay." 

(2) His Occasional Poems. No less than 172 in number, 
of which not less than 40 are inscribed to the famous " Class 
of 29." E. G. "The Boys." 

177 



(3) His more serious and more spiritual ivork. E. G. 
"The Chambered Nautilus," "The Last Leaf," "The 
Living Temple," "Iris: her Book," and his hymns. 

V. The Essaysist. At the age of 48, Holmes entered 
upon a new literary sphere; and his reputation will ulti- 
mately rest upon the wonderfully keen and bright volumes 
known as "The Breakfast Table Series." and especially 
"The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" (1857). These 
volumes contain the best of his poetry; and the revelation 
of his own personality in them makes them especially 
attractive. 

VI. General Estimate. We are impressed, first of all, 

with the abounding vitality of Holmes, and the keenness 

of his wit. He was not a poet of nature; but a poet of 

society, rather than a poet of humanity. He possessed 

acuteness rather than breadth of intellect. His sympathy 

with humanity was something acquired, rather than innate. 

He is characterized by a sort of cosmopolitan provincialism, 

and by wonderful versatility. See J. T. Trowbridge's poem 

"Filling an Order." 

Consult Morse's "Life and Letters of O. W. Holmes;" "The 
Atlantic Monthly/' Vol. 74 (T. B. Aldrieh); "The Review of Re- 
views" Vol. 10 (Edward Everett Hale); Jerrold's "Oliver Wendell 
Holmes;" Stedman's "Poets of America;" "Scribner's Magazine," 
Vol. 18. 



179 



V 



XXVI. RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 



Emerson was born at Boston, Mass., May 25, 1803; and 
graduated at Harvard, without especial distinction, in 
1821. For a while he taught school; but soon entered 
the Unitarian ministry, and became pastor of the Old 
North Church in Boston. In 1835, he resigned his pas- 
torate, owing to his aversion to the celebration of the 
Lord's Supper, and retired to Concord, Mass., the home 
of his ancestors, where he ever afterwards resided; though 
he made frequent lecturing tours in this country and eA r en 
in England. On Emerson as a Lecturer, see Lowell in 
the " Riverside Series/' No. 39. He died at Concord, in 
1882. 

Emerson's first introduction to the literary world was 
in 1837, when he delivered a Phi Beta Kappa Oration at 
Harvard, on "Man Thinking/' which has been called 
"our literary declaration of independence." From 1840 
to 1844, he was editor of "The Dial" — a magazine de- 
' signed to advocate the " transcendental philosophy," which 
had been adopted by Emerson, Alcott and Margaret Fuller 
Ossoli. In 1841, he published his first volume of essays, 
the sale of which was very slow. His most popular prose 
works have been "English Traits," "'Representative Men" 
and "Society and Solitude." 

Emerson has been severely criticized for the obscurity 
of his style; and it must certainly be confessed that, in 
reading his essays, we are rather impressed by the terse- 
ness and epigramatic point of individual sentences than 
enchained by a course of consecutive thought. Objection 
has also been made to Emerson's scepticism. He was, 
by nature, a questioner, and in that capactiy, rendered 
what service he might to humanity; but there was nothing 

1S1 



mean or malignant about his scepticism. Personally , 
he was one of the most genial and affable of men; and his 
character and life were singularly pure. The influence 
of his idealistic philosophy in counteracting the materialistic 
tendencies of his day was extremely healthful. 

Emerson was not, as is commonly thought, a philosopher ; 
but a poet — some think the best poet America has yet 
produced. He gave to the world no system of opinions; 
and frankly acknowledged his incapacity for accurate 
and severe reasoning. See " Emerson at Home and 
Abroad," p. 171. The thoughts which he especially em- 
phasized — whether in prose or verse — are essentially poetic. 

They are : 

1. That God is in all things, and all things are in God. 

2. That each created existence is essential to every 
other created existence. 

3. That nothing which has once existed ever ceases to 
exist. See, in illustration, "Each and All," and "Wood 
Notes." 

Emerson's diction icas at first harsh and unmetrical; 
but he subsequently made a vast improvement. See 
"The Exile." 

His poetry is not, as is alleged, incomprehensible. 
Even "Brahma" yields a clear and definite meaning to 
one who has some slight knowledge of Hindu philosophy. 

He excels in vivid and exact imagery, and in profound 
sympathy with the varying phases of nature. See "A 
Snow Storm," "The Adirondacks," "The Humble Bee," 
"May Day," "Rhodora," "The Apology." 

There is a vein of sadness in Emerson's poetry which 

commends it to human sympathy. See "The Day's 
Ration," and "Terminus." 

183 



Still Emerson is not popular as a poet. He is, perhaps, 
best known by his "Hymn at the Dedication of the Con- 
cord Monument" and "The Problem." 

Consult: Holmes's life in the " American Men of Letters" series; 
Guernsey's "R. W. Emerson" in Appletons' series of Brief Biog- 
raphies; Cabot's "Memoir of Ralph Waldo Emerson;" "Emerson 
in Concord;" by the poet's son; Geo. W. Cooke's ''Ralph Waldo 
Emerson;" John Morley's "Miscellanies," Vol. L; "Scribner's 
Monthly," February 1879; Matthew Arnold's "Discourses in 
America;" Whipple's "Recollections of Eminent Men;" "Poets' 
Homes;" John Burroughs' s "Birds and Poets;" Edward Everett 
Hale's "Ralph Waldo Emerson." 



185 



XXVII. THE MINOR POETS OF THE EARLY 
SCHOOL. 



The most eminent names belonging to what is coming 
to be known as "the early school of American poetry " are 
those of Bryant, Longfellow, Whittier, Lowell, Emerson 
and Holmes. Attention should, however, be called to 
several names of less prominence. Some of these authors 
once enjoyed considerable reputation; but are now a mere 
reminiscence. Others will, doubtless, hold a permanent 
place in our anthologies. 

Richard H. Dana, Sr. (1787-1879), author of "The Bucca- 
neer ,? — a poem which is redolent of the sea and admirably 
catches the "local color" of the New England coast. 

Henry Ware, Jr. (1794-1843), whose hymn "To the 
Ursa Major" is the finest specimen of American blank verse. 

Lydia Maria Sigourney (1791-1865), who was labelled — 
after the fashion of her day — as "the American Hemans." 

Joseph Rodman Drake (1795-1820), author of "The 
Culprit Fay" and "The American Flag." 

Fitz-Greene Halleck (1790-1867), whose "Marco Boz- 
zaris" is still declaimed; and whose "Burns," "Alnwick 
Castle" and "Woman" evince true poetic feeling. 

Charles Sprague (1791-1875), a Boston banker whose 
"Curiosity" and "Shakspere Ode" gave him temporary 
reputation. His little poem entitled "The Brothers" 
still lives. 

Frances. Sargent Osgood (1811-1850), whom Griswold 
very highly praises; but whom the reading public haver 
agreed to neglect. 

Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806-1867), an attractive and 
versatile litterateur, whose "Sacred Melodies" were once 
immensely popular, but are now severely criticized. 

187 



Hannah F. Gould (1789-1865), whose "Snow Flake" 
and "The Frost" are still favorites with the little ones. 

Alice Cary (1820-1871), and Phoebe Cary (1824-1871). 
The spirit of these gifted sisters is well exemplified in 
Phoebe Cary's "One sweetly solemn thought." 

Josiah Gilbert Holland (1719-1881), whose narrative 
poems, "Kathrina 7 ' and "Bitter Sweet," enjoyed the same 
temporary popularity as his novels. 

Richard Henry Stoddard (1825-1903), an extremely 
voluminous poet, who is seen at his best in his narrative 
poetry — notably "The King's Bell." 

Edmund Clarence Stedman (1833- ), wiiose eminence 
as an authority with reference to "The Poets of America" 
has defrauded him of his just reputation as one of their 
number. " Osawatomie Brown " and " Laura, my Darling " 
illustrate different phases of his genius. 

Helen Hunt Jackson (1831-1885), about whose poetry, as 
about her person, there was a subtle and delicate charm. 

Celia Laighton Thaxter (1835-1894), whose poems, when 
she is singing about the sea, or singing to children, are 
wonderfully attractive. 

Edward Rowland Sill (Conn. 1841-Cal. 1887), the author 
of three volumes of poems which evinced such excellence, 
and gave such promise, that his early death was widely 
mcuraed. His "Opportunity" and "The Fool's Prayer" 
are in all our anthologies. 

Constance Fenimore Woolson (1848-1894), is best known 
by her stories; but her "Two Women" is a poem of rare 
dramatic power. 

Julia C. R. Dorr (1833- ), seems to me, by virtue of 
such poems as "Christus" and "The Organ Builder," to 
deserve higher reputation than is generally accorded her. 

John T. Trowbridge (1827- ). The same may be said 

189 



of Mr. Trowbridge, who has done far better work than his 
" Vagabonds ," or " Darius Green and his Flying Machine" — 
by which he is most widely known. 

AUTHORS OF SINGLE FAMOUS POEMS. 

Joseph Hopkinson, " Hail Columbia." 

Clement C. Moore, "A Visit from St. Nicholas." 

John Pierpont, " Passing Away." 

Samuel Woodworth, "The Old Oaken Bucket." 

Francis Scott Key, "The Star Spangled Banner." 

John Howard Payne, "Home Sweet Home." 

George P. Morris, "Woodman, Spare that Tree." 

S. F. Smith, "My Country, 'tis of Thee." 

Lucy Larcom, "Hannah at The Window, binding Shoes." 

W. Mitchell, "Tacking Ship off Shore." 

Ray Palmer, "My Faith Looks up to Thee." 

Julia Ward Howe, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." 

Consult Griswold's " Poets and Poetry of America;" Keese's 
"Poets of America" (out of print); Hows' " Golden Leaves from 
American Poets;" Simonds's " American Song." 



191 



XXVIII. NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 



Hawthorne, rather than Irving, Cooper or Poe, (who 
resembles him in analytic power and love for the weird 
and mysterious), must be accepted as America's greatest 
writer of prose fiction. He was the first author to make 
fiction of the analytic, or psychologic, type a success. 
Meanwhile, he was emphatically and distinctively American. 

He was born at Salem, Mass., July 4, 1804, being a de- 
scendant of the Judge Hathorne who was so conspicuous 
for his zeal in suppressing witchcraft. In 1818, Haw- 
thorne's family removed to the shores of Sebago lake, in 
Maine, where he devoted himself to field sports and began 
to write in a childish way. In 1819 he returned to Salem, 
fitted for college, and entered Bowdoin in 1821. Here he 
was a class-mate of Longfellow and an intimate friend of 
Franklin Pierce; but did not distinguish himself as a stu- 
dent. 

His first book, "Fanshawe" (1828) was a novel, not a 
romance, and was not received with especial favor. He 
needed to mature and consolidate his powers before en- 
tering upon his life-work; and this was done during a 
period of seclusion at Salem which lasted till 1835. 

In 1836 Hawthorne published the first volume of his 
" Twice Told Tales/' which evinces all the characteristics 
of his subsequent works save their gloom and intensity. 

From 1838 to 1840, Hawthorne was a weigher and gauger 
in the Boston custom-house. In 1840-41, he was at Brook 
Farm. In 1842, he married Miss Sophia Peabody ; and took 
up his residence at Concord, Mass., in the old parsonage 
which his " Mosses from an Old Manse" (1846) has rendered 
famous. 



193 



From 1846 to 1849, Hawthorne was Surveyor of the port 
of Salem, Mass. ; and his custom-house experiences suggest- 
ed the satirical introduction which gave immediate noto- 
riety to "The Scarlet Letter" (1850). This book— Haw- 
thorne's first extended work — is now regarded as his 
master-piece. Its theme is the inevitable connection 
between sin and retribution — which was always a favorite 
theme with Hawthorne. 

Between 1850 and 1853, Hawthorne resided at Lenox 
in the Berkshire Hills; and then, for the second time, 
at Concord. This was his period of greatest literary 
fecundity, his most important works being " The House of 
the Seven Gables (1851), his most popular romance; "The 
Snow Image and Other Twice Told Tales " (1851); "The 
Blithedale Romance " (1852), in which he worked up his 
Brook Farm experience; "The Wonder Book" (1851) and 
" Tanglewood Tales" (1853), charming adaptations to child- 
ren of the old classic myths. 

Hawthorne's "Campaign Life of Franklin Pierce " (1852) 
and his fealty to the Democratic party, secured him the 
appointment of Consul to Liverpool, wiiere he spent four 
uncomfortable years, 1853-1857. He remained abroad, 
in Italy and England, till 1860, when he returned to Am- 
erica and again took up his residence at Concord. 

In this year he published "The Marble Faun" — his 
longest, most elaborate, and, many think, his best work. 
In 1863 he published "Our Old Home," which was perhaps 
the most unfortunate of his literary ventures, as he was 
manifestly out of touch with his theme. The publication 
of his "Dolliver Romance" was interrupted by his death; 
but the material which he intended to incorporate in it 
had been previously incarnated in his posthumous "Sep- 
timius Felton." This, and "Hawthorne's American Note 



195 



* 



Books, are the only works of his unearthed since his death 
which deserve attention. 

Shortly after Hawthorne's return from Europe our civil 
war broke out and seemed utterly to shock and benumb his 
faculties; though he had a sounder apprehension of the 
issues at stake, and the means that must be adopted to 
ensure the triumph of the North, than most of his coun- 
trymen. See Bridge's " Recollections of Hawthorne/' 
p. 169. His strength gradually failed; and he died at 
Plymouth, N. H., whither he had gone, with his old friend 
Pierce, in search of health, May 19, 1864. 

Hawthorne was excessively shy and moody — possibly 
afflicted with a strain of insanity. Yet he was capable 
of warm friendships. 

He must be estimated as a romancer — not a novelist. 
See the preface to his "House of the Seven Gables." Yet 
he responds admirably to recent realistic tests. 

He possessed rare analytic power and subtle insight; but 
was especially attracted towards the weird and mysterious. 
See Hutton's "Essays in Literary Criticism," p. 137. 

He is characterized by marked originality and indepen- 
dence. 

His imagination is weird and grotesque; but of almost 
irresistable power over an appreciative reader. 

His passion is intense; but he is deficient in pathos, 
yet evinces rare humor in dealing with an ideal world. 

His style is nearly perfect — seeming rather thought 
itself than the garb of thought — and altogether his own. 
Sometimes, possibly, it is too good. 

On the whole, we may regard Hawthorne as the greatest 
creative genius of his age. He would have been greater, 
however, had he been less morbid and misanthropic. 
Possibly he is seen at his best in his short stories. There 

197 



were really two Hawthornes — one gloomy and saturnine; 
the other sportive and fanciful. 

Consult: Lathrop's "Study of Hawthorne;" Julius Hawthorne's 
" Nathaniel Hawthorne and his Wife;" Fields's "Yesterdays with 
Authors;" Poe's "Literati;" R. H. Hutton's "Essays in Literary 
Criticism;" Stedman's "Hawthorne;" Henry Giles's" "Illustrations 
of Genius;" E. P. Whipple's "Character and Characteristic Men;" 
life in the English "Great Writers" series and "American Men of 
Letters" series (Woodberry); Bridges's "Recollections of Haw- 
thorne;" "Analytical Indiex and Life;" by Mrs. O'Connor, in the 
"Little Classics" edition of his works. 



199 



XXIX. THE HARBINGERS OF A NEW SCHOOL OF 
AMERICAN POETRY. 



There is a growing tendency to speak of "the early 
school of American Poetry" — referring to the poets to 
whom attention has already been called. This would seem 
to imply that there is "a later school;" but such is not 
the fact. There is, howeyer, a cluster of poets who, 
though very dissimilar in character and purpose, possess 
some traits in common and may be regarded as the harbin- 
gers of a new school. 

"The early school" was characterized by a didactic spirit 
and an ethical purpose — or a tendency to preach. Among 
these poets with a purpose, there arose one — contemporary 
with Longfellow — whose purpose was mere aesthetic pleas- 
ure. That was: 

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), in whose poems imagina- 
tion predominates over the practical spirit. Poe intro- 
duces us to an ideal world. In him we have insubstantial 
thought redeemed by careful workmanship, and a wonder- 
ful mastery of rhythm and melody. Edmund Gos'se, dis- 
cussing the question "Has America produced a poet?" 
pronounces Poe the greatest of all our poets; and in that 
estimate many foreign critics would concur. 

Walt Whitman (1819-1892), substitutes for ethical, or 
aesthetic, purpose, absolute fidelity to nature. He excels 
all other American poets in taking a poetical view of 
essentially common-place things; and is intensely Am- 
erican. Despite his coarseness, crudity and conceit, he 
may contribute something of virility to American poetry. 
He is far more highly esteemed abroad than he is at home. 
See "My Captain;" and contrast with Longfellow's "Cham- 
ber over the Gate" Whitman's "Come up from the Fields, 
Father." 

20 r 



Joaquin Miller (1841- ), is a man for whom one may 
well cherish sovereign contempt; but in his earlier poems 
there was a good deal of "rude Homeric vigor/' while, at 
the same time, he was distinctively American. See his 
" Songs of the Sierras." 

Bayard Taylor (1825-1878), at first identified himself 
with the early school; but his later manner is far more 
vigorous and passionate than theirs. See his " Bedouin 
Love Song" and "Mondamin." 

Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1837- ), made a similar 
transition. Contrast his suppressed "Kathie Morris" — 
and even his "Babie Bell" — with his "Palabras Carin- 
ocas." He is most emphatically a disciple of Poe; and 
charms us by his grace and melody; but lacks that vigor 
and that unquestioning fidelity to nature which are likely 
to characterize the poet of the future. 

Richard Eugene Burton (1859- ), is a younger poet, of 
similar tendencies to Aldrich, but more virile substance, 
who ought to give us something worthy of enduring repu- 
tation. See his "City of the Dead" and "March Days." 

Sidney Lanier (1842-1881), despite Gosse's slighting es- 
timate, might have been the founder of the new school 
had he lived. He had the melody and rhythmical capacity 
of Poe, without his vagueness and insubstantiality; Whit- 
man's fidelity to nature without his coarseness and vul- 
garity; he was sufficiently American, but not offensively 
so; and he knew how to be religious without preaching. 

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), left us three volumes of 
poems that were weird and crude; but evinced marked 
originality, intense sympathy with nature, and subtle 
pathos. 

James Whitcomb Riley (1854- ), is a poet whose 
future is uncertain; but he has done some very good work — 

203 



and that in other than the humorous vein. He has some 
points of resemblance to the early school; but, though 
he is often devout, he never preaches; and his fidelity 
to nature is marvelous. The new school of American poetry 
will not be a school of dialect poetry; but it may well 
have some of the homely simplicity and directness that 
characterize the best of Riley's work. See " The Shower/' 
"A Life Lesson" and "The South Wind and the Sun". 

Possible characteristics of American poetry in the future. 

When we have a new school of American poetry, it is 
probable : 

(1) That the aesthetic, rather than the ethical, element 
will dominate it. 

(2) That it will be characterized by greater attention 
to the mechanism of verse; yet 

(3) Greater simplicity and directness. 

(4) That it will be more thoroughly American than the 
early school. 

(5) That it will be distinguished by rare fidelity to 
nature, while 

(6) Not wanting in fealty to God. 

Consult Stedman's " Poets of America;" "The Younger American 
Poets;" Vedder's "Writers of To-day;" "The Forum" for October 
1888 (Edmund Gosse); Woodberry's "Life of Poe;" Bucke's 
"Walt Whitman;' 7 Burroughs's "Birds and Poets;" Trigg's "Brown- 
ing and Whitman;" "The Presbyterian Review" for October 1888 
(article on Lanier by Pres. Gates). 



205 



XXX. DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL SPIRIT IN 
AMERICAN LITERATURE. 



Of literature, in any high and noble sense of the word, 
there was, as has already been said, not a particle pro- 
duced during the Colonial Period in our history. Nor was 
there — with a few somewhat questionable exceptions, which 
have already been noted — any such literature produced 
during the Revolutionary Period. 

The Revolutionary War, while it established our politi- 
cal independence, by no means established our literary 
independence. As Henry Cabot Lodge says (" Studies in 
History," p. 337), "The shackles of the colonial spirit still 
fettered all our mental action." 

Even after the promising beginnings that Irving, Bry- 
ant and Cooper had made in the development of an Amer- 
ican literature (see Section XVIII) there was considerable 
truth in De Tocqueville's statement (1835); "The few 
Americans who write are English in matter, and still more 
English in form." 

Prof. Lounsbury tells us that, clown to 1820, a foreign 
stamp ivas necessary to give currency to any literature pro- 
duced in this country. Our authors were morbidly sensi- 
tive to English critical opinion; and no higher honor 
could be paid them than to label them (often with ludi- 
crous unfitness), "The American Scott," or "The American 
Rogers," etc. 

It it commonly conceded that Bryant laid the founda- 
tions of a distinctively American school of poetry. Ac- 
cording to Lodge, Lounsbury and Brander Matthews, 
Cooper rendered a kindred service to American prose — 
but this, only after masquerading as an Englishman. 

There was too much servile imitation of English authors 
and subservience to English critical opinion throughout 

207 



the Period of National Consolidation (1815-1865); and 
this state of things continued till our bitter disappoint- 
ment at the attitude of England during the War of the 
Rebellion severed the intellectual fetters that bound us 
to the mother country , and made us absolutely free. See 
Lodge's " Studies in History/' p. 357. 

We then enter upon a Period of National Emancipation, 
extending from 1865 to the present time, (see the Syllabus 
of American Literature which follows), a striking feature 
of which is : the emancipation of the American people from 
literary subjection to European opinion. 

During this period, our older authors of established 
reputation have all passed away, and no authors of equal 
reputation have arisen to take their places; but the out- 
look for American literature is by no means discouraging. 

1. The volume of literary activity is far greater than when 
the stream was concentrated in those few channels which 
commanded such general attention. See Brander Mat- 
thews's " Americanisms and Briticisms." 

2. This unprecedented literary activity is diffused over 
the entire country. Compare, in the syllabus at the close 
of this volume, the states represented in the departments of 
History and Fiction, during the Period of Emancipation 
and the Period of National Consolidation. 

3. These authors are absolutely independent of all con- 
ventionalities, whether English or American. Note the 
" local color" of the " short stories" which come to us 
from all sections of the country; and realize that "the 
American Short Story" is indigenous to the soil — not an 
imitation of foreign masterpieces. 

4. These authors are working in obedience to a common 
impidse, and making American literature thoroughly demo- 
cratic and humanitarian. 



209 



5. There are some authors, whose work has been done 
wholly or in part in this period, to whom permanent repu- 
tation may confidently be conceded, E. G. : 

(1) In Fiction — Wm. Dean Howells, F. Marion Craw- 
ford, Edward Everett Hale, James Lane Allen. 

(2) In Poetry — Walt Whitman, Sidney Lanier. 

(3) In History — Francis Parkman, L T lysses S. Grant 
(see Howells's " Criticism and Fiction," pp. 43, 88 sq.), 
John Fiske. 

The student should be chary of conceding permanent 
literary reputation to those recent rehabilitations of the 
story of adventure which are the sensation of the hour. 
Only those authors who withstand the winnowing processes 
of time are truly great; and of such authors America has, 
by common consent, produced but few — 
"Such as he from whose hand 
The magic web of romance 
Slipped, and the art was lost. 

>H ifc >{c % j£ 

Or he who, beside the Charles, 
Untouched by envy, or hate, 
Tranced the world with his song. 

Or that other, the gray-eyed seer, 

Who, in pastoral Concord ways, 

With Plato and Hafiz walked/' — 

T. B. Aldrich. 

Consult on this topic, in addition to the books to which specific 
reference has been given, Lounsbury's "Life of Cooper;" Hig- 
ginson's "The New World and the New Book." 



211 



XXXI. THE LITERATURE OF THE SOUTH. 



The influence of the plantation-system in hindering 
the development of literature in the South during the 
pre-revolutionary period, has already been noted. See 
Section XVIII. 

During the Colonial Period (1607-1765), the literature 
produced at the South was mainly from the pens of Eng- 
lishmen temporarily resident in America. E. G. George 
Sanciys's translation of Ovid's " Metamorphoses" (see Sec- 
tion XIX); and Captain John Smith's "True Relation of 
Virginia," etc. Reprinted in Arber's "English Scholar's 
Library of Old and Modern Works." 

"The Sot-weed Factor," by Ebenezer Cook, of Mary- 
land; and "The History of the Dividing Line," by Wil- 
liam Byrcl, of Virginia; were, however, indigenous, and 
smack of the soil. 

See Tyler's "History of American Literature;" and Trent and 
Wells's "Colonial Prose and Poetry." 

During the Revolutionary Period (1765-1815), the South 
evinced an aptitude for Oratory which it long maintained. 
Patrick Henry (Va. 1736-1799), was the first of the great 
southern orators; though his fame is founded mainly on 
tradition. During the Period of National Consolidation 
(1815-1865), the oratory of Henry Clay (Va, 1777-Ky. 
1852), was characterized by a wonderful personal mag- 
netism. John Randolph of Roanoke (Va, 1773-1833), 
was a master of keen sarcasm and scathing invective; and 
John C. Calhoun (S. C. 1782-1850), achieved a national 
reputation by the clear, relentless, unimpassioned logic 
with which he defended what he regarded as the rights of 
the South. 

In Statesmanship, too, the South, from an early day, 
excelled, giving to the world a series of state papers which, 

213 



owing to their permanent significance, border on the 
confines of pure literature. The most prominent names 
are those of: 

George Washington (Va. 1732-1799) , whose " Farewell 
Address " should be read by every young American. 

Thomas Jefferson (Va. 1743-1826), the author of "The 
Declaration of Independence. " 

James Madison (Va. 1751-1836), who helped to make 
"The Federalist" a political classic. 

John Marshall (Va. 1755-1835), whose reputation rests 
mainly on his masterly decisions as Chief Justice of the 
United States, though he impinges on literature in his 
"Life of Washington." 

As has been said, there was not much in the way of 
pure literature produced at the South till the close of our 
civil war. An emphatic exception is afforded, however, 
both in prose and poetry by Edgar Allan Poe (see Section 
XXIX) ; and a southern author, in compiling such a man- 
ual as this, would certainly emphasize the following names: 
In Fiction — John P. Kennedy (Md. 1795-1870), author of 
"Horseshoe Robinson" and many other works; William 
Gilmore Simms (S. C. 1806-1870), - whose best book is 
perhaps "The Yemassee." 

In Poetry— feichard H. Wilde (Ga. 1789-1847) ; Edward 
C. Pinkney (Md. 1802-1828) ; Henry Timrod (S. C. 1829- 
1886) ; and Paul H. Hayne (S. C. 1830-1886.) 

In Belles Lettres— William Wirt (Md. 1772-1834), author 
of "Letters of a British Spy." 

There are few more striking, or more grateful, charac- 
teristics of the Period of National Emancipation (1865- ) 
than the emancipation of southern genius from the fetters 
which had shackled it before the war; and the prominent 
part it is now^ taking in the development of a distinctively 
national literature. 



215 



Sidney Lanier (see Section XXIX) is one of the greatest 
names in recent American poetry; and he has done. signifi- 
cant work in the department of criticism. Among recent 
American writers of fiction, there are few more noteworthy 
names than those of George W. Cable (La. 1844) , author of 
"The Grandissimes James Lane Allen (Ky. 1849), au- 
thor of "The Choir Invisible;" "Charles Egbert Craddock" 
(Miss Murfree, Tenn. 1850), author of " The Prophet of the 
Great Smoky Mountains;" and F. Hopkinson Smith, (Md. 
1838), author of "The Fortunes of Oliver Horn." 

Mention should also be made of John Esten Cooke (Va. 
1830-1886), whose "Virginia Comedians" is deservedly 
praised, though the author's reputation rests more sub- 
stantially on his historical and biographical work; Thomas 
Nelson Page (Va. 1853), who has given us an inimitable 
sketch of "Marse Chan;" and Richard M. Johnston (Ga. 
1822). the author of " Dukesborongh Tales," a series of 
homely, but vigorous, caricature-sketches of rural life in 
Georgia. The name, also, of Joel Chandler Harris (Ga. 
1848), who has created for us the character of "Uncle 
Remus" should not be overlooked. 

Another name — which falls somewhat without the sphere 
of pure literature, yet deserves mention — is that of Henry 
W. Grady (Ga. 1850-1889), statesman, sociologist and 
orator, with whose eloquent plea for "The New South" 
every one is familiar. And there are two names which 
remind us more strikingly than any others that ours is a 
period of emancipation — those of Booker T. Washington 
(Va. 1856), the eloquent and tactful President of Tuskegee 
Institute; and Paul Lawrence Dunbar, poet and novelist. 

Consult on this topic: Manly's "Southern Literature;" Barrett 
Wendell's "literary History of America/' p. 480 sq.; Trent's 
"William Gilmore Simms" in the American Men of Letters Series; 
Gosse's "Has America produced a poet?" in The Forum for Oc- 
tober 1888. 



217 



SYLLABUS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. 

As a basis for " laboratory work" in American Literature, a list 
is here given of those authors respecting whom every intelligent 
American should have some information, with the date and place 
of their birth and death, and the name of some typical work. In 
compiling this list the author has been greatly helped by Oscar Fay 
Adams's" " Handbook of American Authors" and Stedman & 
Hutchinson's " Library of American Literature." The latter 
work (which is indispensible to every school and college library) 
will very possibly be the only means by which the student can 
form any personal knowledge of some of the earlier authors and 
will give him an adequate representation of many of the latei ones. 

W. C. Bronson's " Short History of American Literature " is one 
of the best of our recent manuals, and will be especially useful on 
this topic. 

The most important topics in this syllabus have been 
specifically treated in the preceding pages. 

I. Colonial Period. 
From the settlement at Jamestown (1607) to the pass- 
age of the Stamp Act (1765). 

Really Significant Names. 
Roger Williams (Wales, 1696— R. I. 1683), "The Bloudy 
Tenent of Persecution/' "Key into th@ Language of Am- 
erica. " 

Jonathan Edwards (Conn. 1703— X. J. 1757), "The 
Freedom of the Will," "History of the Great Awakening. " 
Names of Minor Importance. 

John Winthrop (Eng. 1588— Mass. 1649), "Journal 
of the Massachusetts Colony." 

John Eliot (Eng. 1604— Mass. 1690), "The Indian Bible." 

Anne Bradstreet (Eng. 1612 — Mass. 1672), Poems. 

Increase Mather (Eng. 1639— Mass. 1723), "Remark- 
able Providences." 

Cotton Mather (Mass. 1663-1726), "Magnalia Christi 
Americana." 

Samuel Sewall, (Eng. 1652— Mass. 1730), Diary. 

John Woolman (N. J. 1720-1772), Journal. 

219 



II. Revolutionary Period. 

From the passage of the Stamp Act (1765) to the close 
of the second war with Great Britain (1815). 

Really Significant Names. 

Benjamin Franklin (Mass. 1706— Pa. 1790), "Auto- 
biography," "Poor Richard's Almanac." 

Thomas Paine (Eng. 1737— Pa. 1809), "Common Sense/' 
"The Rights of Man." 

Thomas Jefferson (Va. 1743-1826), "Declaration of In- 
dependence," "Notes on Virginia," 

Alexander Hamilton (W. I. 1757 — N. Y. 1804), "The 
Federalist." 

William Wirt (Md. 1762-1834), "Life of Patrick Henry," 
"The British Spy." 

Names of Minor Importance. 

Francis Hopkinson (Pa, 1737-1791), "The Battle of the 
Kegs." 

John Jay (N. Y. 1745-1829), Contributions to "The 
Federalist," 

John Trumbull (Conn. 1750-1831), "M'Fingal." 

James Madison (Ya. 1751-1836), "The Madison Papers." 
.Joel Barlow (Conn. 1755-1812), "The Columbiad," 
"Hasty Pudding." 

Philip Freneau (N. Y. 1752-1832), Poems. 

Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (Mass. 1753- Eng. 
1814), Scientist. 

Timothy Dwight (Mass. 1752 — Conn. 1817), "Conquest 
of Canaan," "Greenfield Hill." 

Fisher Ames (Mass. 1758-1808), "A razeed Burke." 

Charles Brockden Brown (Pa. 1771-1810), "Arthur 
Mervyn." 

Alexander Wilson (Scot. 1776— Pa. 1813), Ornithologist, 

221 



III. Period of National. Consolidation. 

From the close of the second war with Great Britain 
(1815) to the close of the War of the Rebellion (1885). 

POETRY. 

Most Significant Names belonging to "the Early School." 
William Cullen Bryant (Mass. 1794 — N. Y. 1878) . 
Henry Waclsworth Longfellow (Me. 1807— Mass. 1882). 
James Greenleaf Whittier (Mass. 1807-1892). 
James Russell Lowell (Mass. 1819-1891). 
Ralph Waldo Emerson (Mass. 1803-1882). 
Oliver Wendell Holmes (Mass. 1809-1894). 
Minor poets of "the Early School" whose work falls 
wholly, or in great part, within this period. 
Richard H. Dana, Sr. (Mass. 1787-1879). 
Henry Ware, Jr. (Mass. 1794-1843). 
Lydia Maria Sigourney (Conn. 1791-1865). 
Joseph Rodman Drake (N. Y. 1795-1820). 
Fitz-Greene Halleck (Conn. 1790-1887). 
Charles Sprague (Mass. 1791-1875). 
Frances Sargent Osgood (Mass. 1811-1850). 
Nathaniel Parker Willis (Me. 1806— N. Y. 1867). 
Hannah F. Gould (Yt. 1789-1865). 
Alice Cary (O. 1820— N. Y. 1871). 
Phoebe Cary (O. 1824— N. Y. 1871). 
Josiah Gilbert Holland (Mass. 1819— N. Y. 1881). 
Harbingers of a New School of American Poetry. 
Edgar Allan Poe (Mass. 1809— Mel. 1849). 
Bayard Taylor (Pa. 1825-1878). 

Cincinnatus Heiner (Joaquin) Miller (Inch 1841- ). 
Walt Whitman (N. Y. 1819— N. J. 1892). 

223 



FICTION. 



Really Significant Names. 

1. Novels and Romances. 

James Fenimore Cooper (N. J. 1789— N. Y. 1851), "The 
Spy," The Pilot," "The Deerslayer." 

Nathaniel Hawthorne (Mass. 1804-1864), " The Scarlet 
Letter." 

Sylvester Judd (Mass. 1813-1853), "Margaret." 
Harriet Beecher Stowe (Conn. 1812-1896), "Uncle Tom's 
Cabin." 

2. Short Stories. 

Washington Irving (N. Y. 1783-1859), "Rip Van Winkle. 

Richard H. Dana (Mass. 1787-1879), "Paul Felton." 

Edgar Allan Poe (see above), "The Gold Bug." 

Nathaniel Hawthorne (see above), "Ethan Brand." 

Fitz James O'Brien (Ireland, 1828— N. Y. 1882), "The 
Diamond Lens." 

Names of Minor Importance. 

James M. Paulding (Md. 1779-1860), "The Dutchman's 
Fireside." 

Samuel G. Goodrich (Conn. 1793-1860), "Peter Parley." 
William Ware (Mass. 1797-1852), "Zenobia." 
Jacob Abbott (Me. 1803-1879), "The Rollo Books." 
William Gilmore Simms (S. C. 1806-1870), "The Partis- 
an." 

Herman Melville (N. Y. 1819-1891), "Typee." 
Josiah Gilbert Holland (Mass. 1819-1881), "Arthur 
Bonnicastle." 

Theodore Winthrop (Conn. 1828-1861), "John Brent." 

225 



ESSAYS AND CRITICISMS. 

Amos Bronson Alcott (Conn. 1799— Mass. 1888), "Tab- 
lets." 

George Ripley (Mass. 1802-1880), Lit. eel. of "N. Y. Tri- 
bune." 

Ralph Waldo Emerson (Mass. 1803-1882.) 

Nathaniel Parker Willis (Me. 1806— N.'Y. 1867), "Letters 
from under a Bridge." 

Oliver Wendell Holmes (Mass. 1809-1894), "The Auto- 
crat of the Breakfast Table." 

Margaret Fuller, Countess Ossoli (Mass. 1810-1850). 

Henry D. Thoreau (Mass. 1817-1862), " Walden." 

James Russell Lowell (Mass. 1819-1891.) 

Edwin P. Whipple (Mass. 1819-1886), "Literature of the 
Age of Elizabeth." 

Donald G. Mitchell (" Ik Marvel," Conn. 1822 — ) 

"Reveries of a Bachelor." 

Henry Norman Hudson (Vt. 1814-Mass. 1886), Shaks- 
perean critic. 

Richard Grant White (N. Y. 1822-1885), Shaksperean 
critic. 

Josiah Gilbert Holland ("Timothy Titcomb," see above). 
"Gold Foil, etc. 

HISTORY. 

George Ticknor (Mass. 1791-1887), "Spanish Literature." 

William Hickling Prescott (Mass. 1796-1850), "Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella." 

John Gorham Palfrey (Mass. 1796-1881), "New Eng- 
land." 

George Bancroft (Mass. 1800-1891), "United States." 
Richard Hildreth (Mass. 1807-1865), "United States." 
John Lothrop Motley (Mass. 1814-1877), "Rise of the 
Dutch Republic." 

227 



BIOGRAPHY. 



John Marshall (Va. 1735-1835), "Washington." 
Washington Irving (see above), " Columbus/' " Gold- 
smith." 

Jared Sparks (Conn. 1789-1866), "Washington." 

William B. Sprague (Conn. 1795-1875), "Annals of the 
American Pulpit." 

George Ticknor Curtis (Mass. 1812-1894), "Daniel Web- 
ster." 

James Parton (Eng. 1822 — N. Y. 1891), "Horace Greeley. 
ORATORY. 

SECULAR. 

John Quincy Adams (Mass. 1767-1848). 
Henry Clay (Va. 1777— Ky. 1852). 
Daniel Webster (N. H. 1782— Mass. 1852). 
John C. Calhoun (S. C. 1782-1854). 
Edward Everett (Mass. 1794-1865). 
Rufus Choate (Mass. 1799-1858). 
Charles Sumner (Mass. 1811-1874). 
Wendell Phillips (Mass. 1811-1884). 
John B. Gough (Eng. 1817— Mass. 1886). 

SACRED. 

Lyman Beecher (Conn. 1775-1853). 

Charles G. Finney (Conn. 1792—0. 1875). 

Theodore Parker (Mass. 1810-1860). 

Henry Ward Beecher (Conn. 1813— N. Y. 1887). 

THEOLOGY. 

Archibald Alexander (Va. 1772— N. J. 1851), Presb. 
William Ellery Channing (R. I. 1780— Mass. 1842), Unit. 
Alexander Campbell (Ireland, 1788 — Va, 1865), Disciples. 
Horace Bushnell (Conn. 1802-1876), Cong. 

229 



Frederick H. Hedge (Mass. 1805-1890), Unit. 
Edwards A. Park (R. I. 1808— Mass. 1900), Cong. 
James Freeman Clarke (N. H. 1810— Mass. 1888), Unit. 
Henry B. Smith (Me. 1815— N. Y. 1877), Presb. 

BIBLICAL LITERATURE. 

Moses Stuart (Conn. 1780— Mass. 1852), Cong. 
Edward Robinson (Conn. 1794— N. Y. 1863), Cong. 
George Bush (Vt. 1796-1860), Swedenborgian. 
George R. Noyes (Mass. 1798-1868), Unit. 
Joseph Addison Alexander (Pa. 1809— N. J. 1860), Presb. 
Thomas J. Conant (Vt. 1802— N. Y. 1891), Bap. 
Horatio B. Hackett (Mass. 1808—1875), Bap. 
William M. Thomson (O. 1806), "The Land and the 
Book." 

SCIENCE. 

INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL. 

Francis Wayland (N. Y. 1796— R, I. 1865), Brown Univ. 

Laurens P. Hickok (Conn. 1798— Mass. 1888), Amherst. 

Mark Hopkins (Mass. 1802-1887), Williams. 

Francis Bowen (Mass. 1811-1890), Harvard. 

Noah Porter (Conn. 1811-1892), Yale. 

James M'Cosh (Scot, 1811— N. J. 1894), Princeton. 

PHYSICAL. 

Nathaniel Bowditch (Mass. 1773-1838), "Bowditch's 
Navigator." 

Alexander Dallas Bache (Pa. 1808— D. C. 1887), Super- 
intendent of Coast Survey. 

M. F. Maury (Va. 1808-1873), Hydrographer. 
Benjamin Peirce (Mass. 1809-1880), Mathematician. 

NATURAL. 

J. J. Audubon (La. 1780-1851), Ornithologist, 
Benjamin Silliman, Sr. (Conn. 1779-1864), Chemist. 

231 



Edward Hitchcock (Mass. 1793-1864), Geologist. 
Joseph Henry (N. Y. 1797— D. C. 1878), Director of 
Smithsonian Institute. 

Louis Agassiz. (Swit., 1807 — Mass. 1873), Icthyologist. 
Arnold Henry Guyot (Swit., 1807-1884), Geographer. 

ETHNOLOGIC AXD LINGUISTIC. 

Lindley Murray (Pa. 1745-1820), Grammarian. 
Noah Webster (Conn. 1758-1843) , Lexicographer. 
Peter S. Duponceau (Fr. 1760— Pa. 1844), Indian 
Dialects. 

Albert Gallatin (Swit,, 1761— Pa. 1849), Indian Tribes. 
Joseph E. Worcester (N. H. 1784-1865), "Lexicographer. 
Goold Brown (Mass. 1791-1857), "Grammar of Gram- 
mars." 

Henry R. Schoolcraft (N. Y. 1793-1864), X. A. Indians. 
Charles Pickering (Pa. 1805-1878), "Races of Man." 
George P. Marsh (Vt. 1801-1882), English Language. 
S. S. Haldeman (Pa. 1812-1880), English Language. 
Lewis H. Morgan (N. Y. 1819-1881), "Ancient Society." 
Alex. Graham Bell (Scot. 1819 ), " Visible Speech." 

POLITICAL AND ECONOMICAL. 

James Kent (N. Y. 1736-1843), "Commentaries on 
Law." 

Joseph Story (Mass. 1779-1845), "Commentary on the 
Constitution." 

Henry Wheaton (R. I. 1785-1848), "Law of Nations." 
Francis Lieber (Pr. 1800— S. C. 1872), "Political Ethics." 
Wm. Beach Lawrence (N. Y. 1800-1881), "International 
Law." 

Theodore D. Woolsey (N. Y. 1801— Conn. 1889), Inter- 
national Law. 

Henry W. Halleck (N. Y. 1816-1872), International Law. 

233 



HUMORISTS. 



Seba Smith ("Major Jack Downing," Me. 1792-1868), 
"My Thirty Years out of the Senate." 

James Russell Lowell, "The Biglow Papers." 

Frances M. Whitcher ("The Widow Bedott," N. Y. 
1812-1852). 

John G. Saxe (Vt. 1816-1887), Humorous poems. 

Frederick S. Cozzens (N. Y. 1818-1869), "The Sparrow- 
grass Papers." 

Charles F. Browne (" Artemus Ward," Me. 1834-1867). 

Charles Godfrey Leland ("Hans Breitmann/' Pa. 1824- 
1903). 

TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE. 

Elsiha Kent Kane (Pa. 1820-1857), "Arctic Explora- 
tions." 

Richard H. Dana, Jr. (Mass. 1815-1882), "Two Years 
before the Mast." 

Fred Law Olmstead (Conn. 1822-1903), "The Seaboard 
Slave States." 

IV. Period of National Emancipation. 

From the close of our Civil War (1865) to the present 
time. The War of the Rebellion wrought other emancipa- 
tions than that of the colored race at the south. It has 
tended to emancipate the white race, both north and south, 
from sectional prejudice; and the nation from literary 
subjection to European opinion. Our literature is be- 
coming more independent in tone and more distinctly 
American. . See Brander Matthews's "Americanisms and 
Briticisms," p. 60; Higginson's "The New World and the 
New Book;" Lodge's "Studies in History" (on colonial- 

235 



ism in the United States) . Books are coming to us, strongly 
tinged with local color, from every section of our common 
country. Widely different types of literary production 
are asserting their claims to recognition. 

Of course it is impossible so to anticipate the judgment of 
posterity as to give lists that will be of permanent value- 
But the following names seem, at this writing, especially 
worthy of the student's attention. 

POETRY. 

Thomas Buchanan Read (Pa. 1822-1872), "Drifting." 
Richard H. Stoddard (Pa.. 1825 N. Y. 1903). 

Julia C. R. Dorr (S. C. 1825— Yt. ). 

John T. Trowbridge (N. Y. 1827— Mass. ). 

Emily Dickinson (Mass. 1830-1886). 
Helen Hunt Jackson (Mass. 1831-1885). 

Edmund C. Stedman (Conn. 1833— N. Y. ). 

Celia Thaxter (N. H. 1835-1894). 

Thomas Bailey Aldrich (N. H. 1837- -Mass. ). 

Constance Fenimore Woolson (N. H. 1838-1894). 
Edw. Rowland Sill (Conn. 1841-1887). 
Sidney Lanier (Ga. 1842— Md. 1881). 

James Whitcomb Riley (Ind. 1854 ). 

Richard Eugene Burton (Conn. 1859 ). 

George E. Woodberry (Mass. 1855 — N. Y. ). 

FICTION. 

Extended Works. 

W ? M. Baker (D. C. 1825-1883), "The New Timothy." 
Lew Wallace (Ind. 1828 -1895), "Ben Hur." 

•Amelia E. Barr (Eng. 1831— N. Y. ), "A Border 

Shepherdess." 

Helen Hunt Jackson TMass. 1831-1885), "Ramona." 

237 



Harriet Prescott Spofford (Ale. 1835 — Mass. ), 

"The Amber Gods." 

W. D. Howells (0. 1837 ), "The Rise of Silas 

Lapham." 

Edward Eggleston (Ind. 1837-1902), "The Hoosier 
Schoolmaster." 

.E. P. Roe (N. Y. 1838-1888), "A Face Illumined." 

Albion W. Tourgee (0. 1838— N. Y.-1895), "Murvale 
Eastman." 

Henry James, Jr. (N. Y. 1843 ), "The Portrait of 

a Lady." 

Eliz. Stuart Phelps Ward (Mass. 1844 — ), "Dr 

Zay." 

George W. Cable (La. 1844— Mass. ), "The Grancl- 

issimes." 

Capt. Charles King (N. Y. 1844 ), "Between the 

Lines." 

Anna K. G. Rohlfs (N. Y. 1846 ), "The Leaven- 
worth Case." 

Arthur S. Hardy (Mass. 1847— N. Y. ), "But yet a 

Woman." 

Blanche Willis Howard (Me. 1847 ), "Guenn." 

Frances Hodgson Burnett (Eng. 1849 — D. C. ), 

"That Lass o ? Lowrie's." 

Edward Bellamy (Mass. 1850-1898), "Looking Back- 
ward." 

F. Marion Crawford (It. 1854 ), "Saracinesca," 

"Charles Egbert Craddock " (Mary N. Murfree, Tenn. 
1850 ), "The Prophet of the Great Smoky Moun- 
tains." 

Margaret W. De Land (Pa, 1857 ), "John Ward: 

Preacher." 

Sally Pratt McLean ( ), "Cape Cod Folks." 

239 



James Lane Allen (Ky. 1848 ), " Choir Invisible." 

S. Weir Mitchell (Pa. 1830 ), "Hugh Wynne." 

Paul Leicester Ford (N. Y. 1865-1902), "The Hon. 
Peter Stirling," 

Owen Wister ( ) "The Virginian." 

Short Stories. 

Edward Everett Hale (Mass. 1822 ), "The Man 

without a Country," "In His Name." 

John T. Trowbridge (N. Y. 1827— Mass. ), "Coupon 

Bonds." 

Rose Terry Cooke (Conn. 1827-1893), "Somebody's 
Children." 

Frank R. Stockton (Pa, 1834-1902), "The Lady or The 
Tiger." 

Wm. D. O'Connor (Mass. 1832— D. C. 1889), "The Car- 
penter." 

Saxe Holme (?), "Draxy Miller's Dowry." 

F. Bret Harte (N. Y. 1837— Cal. 1902), "The Outcasts 
of Poker Flat."' 

F. Hopkinson Smith (Md. 1838 ), "Col. Carter of 

Carters ville." 

T. B. Alclrich (see above), "Marjorie Daw." 

Henry James, Jr. (see above), "Daisy Miller." 

Joel Chandler Harris (Ga. 1848 ), "Uncle Remus." 

Constance Fenimore Woolson (N. H. 1848-1894), 
"Rodman the Keeper." 

Sarah 0. Jewett (Me. 1849 ), "Deephaven." 

Annie Trumbull Siosson (Conn. 18 ), "Fishin' 

Jimmie." 

Kate Douglas Wiggin ( ), "The Birds' Christ- 

mas Carol." 

Thomas Nelson Page (Va. 1853 ), "Mars Chan." 

Richard Harding Davis (Pa. 1864 -), "Gallagher." 

241 



Henry Van Dyke (Pa. 1852 ), "The Ruling Pas- 
sion." 

3. Juveniles. 

Charles Carieton Coffin (N. H. 1823-1896), "The Boys 
of 76." 

John T. Trowbridge (see above), "Jack Hazard." 
Louisa M. Alcott (Pa. 1832— Mass. 1888), "Little Men." 
Horace E. Scudder (Mass. 1838-1902), "The Bodley 
Books." 

Mary Mapes Dodge (N. Y. 1838 ), "Hans Brinker." 

Mrs. Burnett (see above), "Little Lord Fauntleroy." 

ESSAYS AND CRITICISM. 

Edward Everett Hale (see above), "What Career?" 

Thos. Wentworth Higginson (Mass. 1823 ), "At- 
lantic Essays." 

George Wm. Curtis (R. I. 1824— N. Y. 1892), "Essays 
from the Easy Chair." 

Charles Dudley Warner (Mass. 1829— Conn. ), "As 

we were Saying." 

Edmund Clarence Stedman (see above), "The Nature 
of Poetry." 

John Burroughs (N. Y. 1837 ), "Birds and Poets." 

William Winter (Mass. 1836— N. Y. ), "Shakspere's 

England." 

"Gail Hamilton," (Mary Abigail Dodge, Hamilton, Mass. 
1838-1896), "Stumbling Blocks." 
Sidney Lanier (see above), "The English Novel." 

Hamilton Wright Mabie (N. Y. 1845 ), "Short 

Studies in Literature." 

"Brother Azarias" (Patrick F. Mullany, Ireland, 1847 — 
N. Y. 1893), "Phases of Thought and Criticism." 

243 



HISTORY. 



George W. Greene (R. I. 1811-1833), "Historical View of 
American Revolution." 

Ulysses S. Grant (0. 1822— N. Y. 1885), Memoirs. 

T. W. Higginson (see above), "Young Folk's History of 
United States." 

Francis Parkman (Mass. 1823-1893), " Pioneers of France 
in the New World." 

John Gilmary Shea (N. Y. 1824-1892), "The Catholic 
Church in Colonial Days." 

George P. Fisher (Mass. 1827— Conn. ), "The 

Reformation." 

Moses Coit Tyler (Conn. 1835— N. Y. 1900), "History 
of American Literature." 

James Schouler (Mass. 1839 ), "The United States 

under the Constitution." 

John Fiske (Conn. 1842-1901), "The Discovery of 
America. " 

James Breck Perkins (Wis. 1847 — N. Y. -'), "France 

under Mazarin." 

Alexander Johnston (N. Y. 1849-1889), "Handbook of 
American Politics." 

John Bach McMaster (N. Y. 1852 ), "History of 

the People of the United States." 

BIOGRAPHY. 

James Elliot Cabot (Mass. 1821 ), Emerson. 

John Esten Cooke (Va. 1830-1886), Stonewall Jackson, 
R. E. Lee. 

Noah Brooks (Me. 1830— Cal. 1903), Abraham Lincoln. 

T. R. Lounsbury (N. Y. 1838— Conn. ), Cooper, 

Chaucer. 

245 



Henry Cabot Lodge (Mass. 1850 ), Hamilton, 

Webster. 

George E. Woodberry (Mass. 1855 — N. Y. ), Haw- 
thorne, Poe. 

ORATORY. 

George William Curtis (see above) . 
Phillip Brooks (Mass. 1835-1893). 
Henry W. Grady (Ga. 1851-1889). 

THEOLOGY. 

W. G. T. Shedd (Mass. 1820-1894), Presb. 

William R. Alger (Mass. 1823 — ), Unit. 

Charles A. Briggs (1841 ), Presb. 

Newman Smyth (Me. 1843 ), Cong. 

BIBLICAL LITERATURE. 

Ezra Abbott (Me. 1819— Mass. 1884), Unit. 

Philip Schaff (Sweden, 1819 — N. Y. 1893), Ger. Ref. 

William H. Greene (N. J. 1825-1900), Presb. 

Lyman Abbott (Mass. 1835— N. Y. ), Cong. 

Crawford H. Toy (Va. 1836— Mass. ), Bap. 

SCIENCE. 

INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL. 

William T. Harris (Conn. 1835— D. C. ). 

John Fiske (see above), "Cosmic Philosophy." 

Borden P. Bowne (N. J. 1847— Mass. ), "Studies in 

Theism." 

Josiah Royce (Cal. 1855 ), "Religious Aspect of 

Philosophy." 

247 



NATURAL. 

Asa Gray (N. Y. 1810— Mass. 1889), "How Plants 
Grow." 

John W. Draper (Eng. 1811— N. Y. 1882), "Human 
Physiology. " 

James D. Dana (N. Y. 1813— Conn. 1895), "Coral and 
Coral Islands." 

E. L. Youmans (N. Y. 1821-1887), "Popular Science 
Monthly." 

Alex. Winchell (N. Y. 1824-1891), "Sparks from a 
Geologist's Hammer/' 

Josiah Parsons Cooke (Mass. 1827 ), "The Cre- 
dentials of Science." 

Elliott Coues (N. H. 1842-Md. 1899), "New England 
Bird Life." 

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC. 

David A. Wells (Mass. 1827 ), "Robinson Crusoe's 

Money." 

Arthur Latham Perry (N. H. 1830— Mass. ), Politi- 
cal Economist. 

Elisha Mulford (Pa. 1833-1885), "The Nation." 

Henry George (Pa. 1839— N. Y. 1897), "Progress and 
Poverty." 

Wm. G. Sumner (N. J. 1840— Conn. ), Political 

Economist. 

Richard T. Ely (N. Y. 1854 ), "The Past and 

Present of Political Economy." 

W.oodrow Wilson (Va. 1856— N. J. ), "The State." ' 

ETHNOLOGIC AND LINGUISTIC. 

J. Hammond Trumbull (Conn. 1821-1897), Indian 
Dialects. 

Francis A. March (Mass. 1825 — Pa, ), Anglo Saxon. 

249 



William D. Whitney (Mass. 1827— Conn. 1894), "Lan- 
guage and the Study of Language." 

D. G. Brinton (Pa. 1837-1896), "Myths of the New 
World." 

EDITORS, COMPILERS AND TRANSLATORS. 

(Not mentioned elsewhere.) 
Charles T. Brooks (Mass. 1813— R. I. 1883), Goethe's 
"Faust." 

Francis J. Child (Mass. 1825-1896), "English and Scot- 
tish Ballads." 

Charles Eliot Norton (Mass. 1827 ), Dante's "Vita 

Nuova." 

Justin Winsor (Mass. 1831-1897), " Narrative and Criti- 
cal History of America." 

H. H. Bancroft (0. 1832— Cal. ),"The Native Races 

of the Pacific States." 

Horace Howard Furness (Pa. 1833 ), Variorum edit- 
ion of Shakspere. 

Rossiter Johnson (N. Y. 1840 ), "Little Classics," 

etc. 

HUMORISTS. 

Benjamin P. Shillaber (N. H. 1814— Mass. 1890), "Mrs. 
Partington." 

Henry W. Shaw ("Josh Billings," Mass. 1818— N. Y. 
1885), "Allminax." 

David R. Locke ("Petroleum Vesuvius Nasby", N. Y. 
1833-1888). 

Charles Heber Clarke ("Max Adeler," ), "Out 

of the Hurly Burly." 

Samuel L. Clemens ("Mark Twain," Mo. 1835 — Conn. 
■ ), "The Innocents Abroad." 

Robert J. Burdette (Pa. 1844 ). 

251 



TRAVEL AND DISCOVERY. 



Heinrich Schliemann (Pa. 1822-1890), "Troy and its 
Remains." 

William D. Howells (see above), " Venetian Days." 

Henry M. Stanley (Wales, 1840— N. Y. ), "How I 

found Livingstone." 

John Hay (111. 1839—0. 1905), "Castilian Days." 
George Kennan (0. 1845 ), "Tent Life in Siberia." 



253 



INDEX. 

PAGES. 

Addison, Joseph 93 

Aldrich, T. B 203, 211 

Alfred the Great . . . 23 

Allophylian Languages 6 

American Literature, Colonial .... 139, 145, 207, 213, 219 
" " Development of a National Spirit . . 207 

" " General Survey 139 

Period of Emancipation . . . 209, 235 
Revolutionary Period . 139, 145, 207, 221 

" Syllabus of 219 

American Poetry, possible future of ....... 205 

Angles, Saxons and Jutes 11 

Anglo-Saxon language . 11, 13 

" literature . 21 

Anne, Age of Queen . 89 

Anselm 21 

Arthur, King . 19 

Arcopagitica, Milton's 79 

Aryan race and language , . 7 

Ascham, Roger „ 45 

Austen, Jane 103 

Bacon, Roger . 21 

Bacon, Sir Francis 55 

Ballad literature of Britain . 41 

Ballads, Lyrical, The . . 119 

Bards, Keltic . . . . 19 

Baxter, Richard 85 

Bede, Venerable 19 

Beginnings of American Literature 141 

Beowulf, The ...... . 21 

Bible, English 31, 41, 57 - 

Bradstreet, Anne . 145 

Britain, comp. size of 9 

" Early Literatures of 19 

Browne, Charles Brockden 151 

Browne, Sir Thomas 85 



255 



PAGES. 

Browning, Robert - 133 

Bryant, William Cullen < . 141, 159 

Bulwer Lytton 105 

Bimyan, John 85, 99 

Burns, Robert 119 

Caedmon „ 21 

Carlyle, Thomas 121 

Cavalier poets 85 

Caxton, William 41 

Character consequences . - . . . ■ 75, 107 

Chaucer ; Contemporaries of 31 

" Life, Works and Genius . . • 35 

" Period Succeeding 41 

Cliristianization of Britain 13 

Chronicle, Saxon 23 

Classical Period of English Literature, Characteristics . . 89 

" " Prominent Authors 91, 97 

" " Permanent Influence 89 

Collier, Jeremy 89 

Colonial and Revolutionary Poetry . . 145 

Comedy, first English 63 

Cooper, James Fenimore 141, 155, 207 

Cynewulf . 23 

Dana, Richard H . 145, 155, 187 

Danish Conquest of Britain 13 

Defoe, Daniel 95, 99 

De Quincey, Thomas ..121 

Dialect, East Midland 31 

Dickens, Charles . 107 

Drama, romantic vs. classical 65 

Dramatic Literature, Rise of English 61 

Dramatists, minor Elizabethan 63, 77 

" of the Restoration 89 

Dry den, John . 91 

Early English Literature 25 

Edwards, Jonathan . . . . . 139 

Eikonoklastes, Milton's 81 

Eliot, George . . 109 

Elizabethan Age, great creative period 27, 45 

257 



PAGES. 

Elizabethan Age, minor dramatists of ...... 77 

" " minor poets of 49 

" " prose of . . 53 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo 181 

English Language, origin and affinities of 5 

" Indo-European 7 

" unparalleled ancestry of 15 

English literature, Formative Period of 27, 31 

" " General Survey of 27 

reasons for studying 5 

" " Recent Period of 119 

Euphuism 53 

Faery Queene, Spenser's . 47 

Famous American Poets, single . 191 

Fiction, Beginnings of American ... . . . . . . 151 

" Development of British 99 

" Elizabethan 99 

" Later American 225, 237 

Realistic 109 

" Tabular View of 115 

" Transitional Period • 101 

Fielding, Henry 101 

Franklin, Benjamin 139 

French influence, period of 29, 89 

French Revolution, influence of 119 

Freneau, Philip 147 

Frisians, part in Saxon settlement 11 

Froude, history of England 123 

Fuller, Thomas 85 

Georgian Epoch 119 

Goldsmith, Oliver . 91, 101 

Gorboduc, tragedy of 63 

Gower, John . 33 

Grady, Henry W 217 

Gray, Thomas 91 

Hamilton, Alexander . .139 

Harbingers of a new American Poetry . . . • . . . . 201 

Havelok, Lay of 25 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel 193 

259 



PAGES. 

Heredity and environment, Shakspere's 67 

Historians, American 141,211,227 

" recent British 123 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell 177 

Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity 53 

Hudibras, Butler's 89 

Hume, history of England 123 

Humorists, American . . 235, 151, 173, 251 

Indo-European Languages, characterized ..... 5 

classified ....... 9 

In Memoriam, Tennyson's . . ... % 127 

Interludes, dramatic 63 

Irving, Washington . . . . v 141, 151 

Johnson, Samuel 93 

Keats, John 121 

Keltic Britain 11 

" " influence on English Literature .... 11 

" literature of Britain 219 

Kingsley, Charles ■ 125 

Langland, William 33 

Languages, families of ........... 5 

Lanier, Sidney 201, 203, 217 

Latimer, Hugh 43 

Latin words, introduction of 11, 13, 15 

" literature of Britain . 19 

Layamon, Brut of * 25 

Linguistic Families 5 

Longfellow, Henry W. 167 

Lowell, James Russell 173 

Lyly, John . '. . . . . ... . 53 

Mabinogion, The 19 

Macaulay, history of England 123 

Mandeville, Sir John 31 

Map, Walter .............. 21 ^ 

Marlowe, Christopher 50, 63 

Middle English Literature . 23 

Milton, John 79 

Minor American Poets 187 

Miracle Plays 61 

261 



PAGES. 

Morality Plays ■ Gl 

More, Sir Thomas 45 

Morte d' Arthur, Malory's 41 

Norman Conquest of Britain 13 

Norman French influence on English Language .... 15 

Novel, historical 103 

" how to test HI 

" psychological 109 

" realistic 109 

" society 101,107 

" with a purpose 109 

Old English Language 13 

" Literature 21 

Orators, American 141 f 213, 229 

Ormulum, The 25 

Owl and Nightingale, The 25 

Periodical Literature, its beginnings 95 

recent prominence 121 

Piers Plowman 33 

Poe, Edgar Allan 193, 201 

Poetry, Romantic school of 119 

Poets, recent English ■ . . . . . 121 

Pope, Alexander 91 

Printing-press, first English 41 

Psalms, Sternhold and Hopkins's version 43 

Puritan authors 85 

Raleigh, Sir Walter 53 

Ralph Roister Doister 63 

Realism vs. Romanticism ......... 109 

Recent Period \ in English Literature 119 

Religious and humanitarian literature, recent . . . . 125 

Renaissance, English, beginning of 27, 35, 41 

" closing period 79, 83 

religious and secular 41, 79 

Richardson, Samuel . .101 

Riley, J. Whit comb 203 

Robert of Gloucester 25 

Roman conquest of Britain 11 

Roses, Wars of . 41 



263 



PAGES. 

Ruskin, John 121 

Saxon settlement of Britain 11 

Scientists, recent British 123 

Scott, Sir Walter 103 

Selden, John . 85 

Semi-Saxon literature 23 

Semitic languages . . 7 

Shakspere-Bacon controversy 55 

Shakspere, The Man and his Works 07 

" Estimate of his Genius 73 

" limitations of 75 

Shelly, Percy B 121 

Short Story, the American . 155, 209, 225, 241 

Sidney, Sir Philip 47, 53 

Skelton, John . . 43 

Sonnet, the English . . . ' . . 43, 71 

South, Literature of . . . • . . . . ■ 213 

Spenser, Edmund 47 

Statesmen, American 213 

Stedman, E. C 189 

Steele, Sir Richard . 93 

Story of Adventure 99, 107, 157 

Stuarts, influence of their restoration 27, 89 

Surrey, Earl of 43 

Swift, Dean 99 

Taylor, Jeremy 85 

Tennyson, Alfred 127 

Thackeray, W. M . . . . 107 

Tragedy, first English . 63 

Triads, Keltic . 19 

Tristram Shandy, Sterne's 101 

Trowbridge, J. T. 189 

Tyndale, William . 41, 57 

• Utopia, Sir Thomas More's 45 

Victorian Epoch . . 119 

Walton, Izaak 85 

Waverley Novels 103 

Whitman, Walt 201 

Whittier, John G . 163 



265 



PAGES . 

Wiclif, John 31 

Williams, Roger 139 

Women, recent prominence of . . 95, 125 

Wordsworth and Coleridge 119 

Wordsworth and Bryant 159 

Wyatt, Sir Thomas 43 

Wycherly and Congreve 89 



267 



